Sixers' Tobias Harris Recalls Early Struggles vs. Wizards Following Statement Game

The Philadelphia 76ers opened up the 2020-2021 regular season with a matchup against the Washington Wizards. Before that late December matchup at home, the Sixers last played in August when they concluded their 2019-2020 season by getting swept in the first round of the playoffs against the Boston Celtics.

Following that playoff failure, the Sixers made significant changes to the front office, coaching staff, and roster. While many believed that Sixers veteran forward Tobias Harris could be one of the players on the move following a disappointing first full season in Philly, the max-contracted veteran remained on board.

With an opportunity to re-introduce himself to Sixers fans as the guy the team traded for in 2019, Harris did nothing but disappoint in Philly's first outing of the season against the Wizards. In an opening night victory over Washington, Harris put up just 10 points and struggled from the field as he knocked down just three of his 13 attempts.

But this wasn't a "here we go again" type of situation for the Sixers. While Harris certainly struggled in his first game back since the disappointing Game 4 loss in Orlando last year, he wasn't that same guy moving forward.

During the 2020-2021 regular season, Harris appeared in 62 of 72 games for the Sixers. While shooting a career-high of 51-percent from the field, Harris averaged nearly 20 points per game for the Sixers this season.

Although he didn't earn All-Star honors as he expected, Harris used the scrutiny from his critics and the All-Star snub as motivation heading into the postseason. With all of those thoughts bottled up in his head, Harris exploded on Sunday night with a spectacular Game 1 performance versus Washington to open the playoffs.

“It’s funny," Harris said on Sunday. "I was looking at old highlights of when we played Washington in the first game of the year, and I remember going home from the game, and I didn’t have my best shooting night, but I said to myself, in this offense, obviously a brand new group, pretty much brand new coaching staff, I said I’m gonna get the looks that I need to get night in and night out. I’ll just be patient. Tonight, I missed them. It’s not the end of the world.”

Although his personal performance was forgettable, Harris saw the positives in his struggles back in December. "I had a bunch of looks that I know I can make," Harris explained. "I’m encouraged by that. I’m encouraged for the next game. I’ll continue to just get those looks and continue to build on that type of confidence."

Harris stuck by his word. Not only did he continue to dominate throughout the regular season since struggling in the first game, but he looked better than ever when he met the Wizards once again for Game 1 of the first-round on Sunday.

In 37 minutes of action, Harris collected a game-high of 37 points. Everybody expected Sixers center Joel Embiid to be the guy who carries the Sixers' offense going into the matchup. While his 30-point performance was nothing to scoff at, Embiid landed in foul trouble early on in the game, forcing somebody else to step up.

Tobias Harris embraced that challenge and certainly didn't disappoint. Although he's faced a ton of criticism in the past, Harris proved himself to be mentally tough on Sunday night as everything is coming full circle.

“You can’t really focus on what everyone else has to say,” Harris stated. “I know who I was at that time [on opening night]. I knew that if I continue to get those shots, over and over again, I was going to make most of them. Fast forward to where we’re at now; it’s just being able to have those same type of looks and be great at them.”

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_ & Instagram: @JGrassoNBA.