76ers' Tobias Harris has one Thought Regarding Upcoming Series vs. Celtics
Coming into the NBA's restart, the Philadelphia 76ers were placed sixth in the Eastern Conference. Quite the disappointing rank considering that Sixers head coach Brett Brown teased the idea of his team contending for the number one spot before the 2019-2020 NBA season tipped off.
But this is the Sixers' reality. They underwhelmed at times throughout the year. Playing at home, they looked like NBA Finals contenders. On the road, they were nothing more than a middle of the pack bunch, scraping for wins.
Not to mention, the injuries often affected the Sixers in many ways and made it hard to build up stable chemistry on the floor, but it's understood that's all a part of the game. Unfortunately, this season the Sixers went from being viewed as a top playoff team in the East before the season started to grabbing the sixth seed.
Now, Philly is locked in with a playoff series against a familiar foe, the Boston Celtics. Facing Boston could give players and fans an uneasy feeling considering what happened two seasons ago. Back in 2018, the Sixers made it to the second round of the playoffs before getting stomped out by their rivals from Boston.
Tobias Harris, however, wasn't in Philly to experience that kind of beating. Therefore, he isn't worried about a repeat of what happened in the past. As a matter of fact, he's only got one thing on his mind heading into that series. When asked about what his thoughts are regarding the Celtics being the Sixers' first playoff opponent, he responded as such: "My thoughts are, let's win."
Short, sweet, and straight to the point. The good news is that the Sixers have managed to churn out wins against the Celtics three out of four times during the regular season. The not-so-good news is that Philly is guaranteed to be shorthanded in the series as Ben Simmons has zero chance of returning. Without Simmons, guys like Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris, and Al Horford have to step up and play on a whole other level.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_
