Tobias Harris' Playing Status vs. Cavaliers

When the Philadelphia 76ers released their early injury report on Thursday night, the team didn’t have any new injuries added after starting the final phase of the regular season off fully healthy.

However, that changed on Friday morning. As the Sixers geared up for their Friday night game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Sixers met for a morning shootaround session at their practice facility in Camden, New Jersey. Tobias Harris, who is dealing with a non-COVID illness, was not present for Friday morning’s session.

According to the Sixers’ injury report, Tobias Harris was added and listed as questionable. A couple of hours before the Sixers were set to tip-off against the Cavs, Doc Rivers confirmed that Harris wasn’t yet cleared for action and was considered a game-time decision.

Shortly after Rivers spoke, Harris took the court for his pregame warmups. After going through his warmups, Harris deemed himself ready to play. Therefore, the Sixers cleared the veteran forward for action, and he’s set to start against Cavs on Friday.

Lately, Harris has struggled to make an offensive impact. Going into the All-Star break, he was averaging 18 points per game. But with James Harden added to the starting lineup, he took a backseat to Harden, Joel Embiid, and the second-year guard Tyrese Maxey.

Against Minnesota, last Friday, Harris scored just six points while going 2-9 from the field. In the next matchup against the New York Knicks, he scored 12 points in 34 minutes, with ten of those points coming in the final quarter. Then on Wednesday, Harris shot 5-10 and scored 14 points in the rematch against the Knicks.

Although he hasn’t hit his stride yet with the new-look lineup, including James Harden, the Sixers are confident that Harris will bounce back and gets more comfortable with a different role.

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

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