76ers’ Tobias Harris Finds Success vs. Kings’ De’Aaron Fox
The Sacramento Kings anticipated potentially playing without their star guard De’Aaron Fox on Tuesday. After missing back-to-back games against the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks due to ankle soreness, Fox was questionable going into the Tuesday night matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers.
A couple of hours before tip-off, Kings' head coach Mike Brown revealed that Fox would play. The star guard proceeded to check into Tuesday’s game for nearly 30 minutes.
This season, Fox averaged 23 points, six assists, and five rebounds while hitting on 37 percent of his threes in 22 matchups. Typically, the Sixers would unleash their veteran two-way standout De’Anthony Melton to guard a quick talent such as Fox, but Tobias Harris was up for the task with Melton sidelined due to back stiffness.
“We just thought size… we figured put size on him,” said Sixers head coach Doc Rivers when discussing the matchup. “That forces him to the basket, at least. He loves that little in-between, he’s been great on the elbows this year, we felt like Tobias’ size would take him off of that. I thought he did a good job.”
Matisse Thybulle, who’s established himself as one of the Sixers’ most reliable defenders over the years, felt surprised once again about Harris’ defensive performance as the veteran forward continues growing on that end of the floor.
“He continues to surprise me,” said Thybulle. “You know Tobias cares about defense when he starts sitting down, putting his hands out, that’s something he used to never do. Now, it’s like, I swear, every single game, I see him do it a handful of times where they’re bringing the ball down, and he’s really getting into his stance. It means something to him, and he’s a talented enough player, athletically and mentally, to be able to adjust and like make these transitions.”
Harris and the Sixers found plenty of defensive success against Fox on Tuesday. As the young guard put up 15 shots from the floor, Fox drained just 33 percent of his attempts. From beyond the arc, he was 1-7. Sacramento’s star finished the game with just 13 points, his lowest total since Sacramento’s November 28 matchup against the Phoenix Suns.
Following the game, Harris assessed his performance when guarding Fox.
“Just present my length and size while guarding him, make some of his looks a little different,” said the forward. “Obviously, he’s one of the fastest, if not the fastest player in the NBA. So, I just stay in front and be able to present my length. When he’s going to the lane to shoot, outside of that, really, it was our whole group getting back on defense. We know they’re a team that gets out in transition and run, so we had to get back.”
Holding Fox to just 13 points, the Sixers managed to collect a 20-point victory at home on Tuesday. With that win, they pick up their third-straight victory and will get a two-day break before hosting the NBA Champions, the Golden State Warriors, on Friday.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
