Tobias Harris had himself a night as he led the Philadelphia 76ers to a comeback win over the surprisingly surging New York Knicks.
Despite being without their superstar center Joel Embiid, and falling behind early, the Sixers were able to rally when it mattered most late in the fourth quarter. Riding good performances from the likes of Seth Curry, Tobias Harris, and Ben Simmons, your Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia 76ers were able to pull out a win over the Knicks by a score of
New York jumped out to an early halftime lead, extending it by as much as ten late in the third quarter. Julius Randle and Alec Burks were particularly productive, with the pair of them scoring 19 points each. At the same time, RJ Barrett chipped in an additional 17 operating in the starting lineup.
Despite the Knicks holding the lead heading into the fourth quarter, the Sixers surged back behind strong performances from some of their key players. Harris finished with a game-high 30 points, Curry scored 20, Simmons flirted with a triple-double (16 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists), and Dwight Howard poured in a 10 point double-double off the bench (12 rebounds).
Harris deserves the most amount of credit when assessing why Philly was ultimately able to grab the win tonight. Outside of his game-high 30 points, he also made some huge plays down the stretch as the team’s “closer,” both on the offensive and the defensive side of the ball. He gave Julius Randle fits in the second half and had some fun moments towards the end of the ballgame, where he declared himself an All-Star to the home crowd in attendance.
Furkan Korkmaz (13 points) and Matisse Thybulle (3 blocks, 1 steal) also had themselves solid games off the bench.
This is the Sixers’ sixth consecutive win, which is actually their longest win streak of the season thus far. Obviously, operating without Embiid now, seeing the team rally, and continuing to produce wins against playoff-caliber teams is a promising sight. Philadelphia is going to have to survive another couple of weeks without Embiid. Finding a way to keep stacking up wins without him will go a long way in terms of solidifying a top seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Philadelphia 76ers are right back in action tomorrow night against the Milwaukee Bucks – their first matchup against the reigning 2x MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo… Tip-off is at 7:00 PM ET.
