Tobias Harris Talks Sixers’ Lack of Mental Toughness vs. Knicks

Everything was going fine for the Philadelphia 76ers during the first quarter of Sunday’s game on the road against the New York Knicks. With a 21-point lead in the opening minutes of the matchup, Philly was primed for a statement win over the seventh-seeded Knicks, who were coming off of an overtime loss the night before.

Perhaps, the Sixers got too comfortable early on. And eventually, it came back to bite them. After finishing the first quarter, the Sixers’ 21-point lead was down to 11. Going into halftime, the Knicks cut the lead down to just two. In the opening minutes of the second half, the Knicks were suddenly out in front.

From that point moving forward, it was anybody’s game as the two teams traded buckets throughout the night. While the Sixers had their fair share of runs that looked similar to the ones they put together during their hot stretch early in the game, New York would find a way to quickly climb back.

Crunch time approached, and the Knicks flipped a switch. Although they started slow, they finished much stronger than Philadelphia. When the game concluded, the Knicks won by 11 points, their biggest lead of the night.

Many pointed to Philadelphia's bench struggles as a reason why they lost the game, but Doc Rivers made it clear that outside of the early run in the first quarter, the starters were a primary reason why the team struggled and came up short as well.

“The game is not just explained by plus-minus. Sometimes, it’s more than that,” said Doc Rivers. “The starters came in, and we still had the lead. I thought we were not emotionally strong tonight mentally; they were a mentally tougher team, and they deserved to win.”

When the Sixers’ season ended last year, several players pointed to the team’s lack of mental toughness and maturity on the court as a reason why they couldn’t come out on top in some of their tougher matchups. Sixers veteran Tobias Harris had a lot to say on the matter when his team’s season ended last year.

Following Sunday’s loss in New York, Harris echoed those sentiments once again, claiming the Sixers need to simply find ways to win those types of games no matter the circumstances.

“We have to figure out ways as a collective group to understand we got away from what was working for us. Now let’s gather ourselves and find some spark, some energy to will our way through,” said Harris. “Sometimes, you’ll have those nights and still won’t make the shots that you need, but the effort and just the spirit is there, but we can’t allow nights like this to take us out of it.”

The Knicks showed a lot of resiliency on Sunday night, which they deserve credit for, as they were working on improving their struggles from the night before.

But at the same time, the Sixers knew they fumbled the matchup as old habits came about.

“These are games when you have those type of moments when you know you get away from what is working, to be able to will your way through and get a victory, those are big time, meaningful games and games we need as a group because we know we’re going to face that type of adversity come playoffs and true, real basketball games,” Harris finished. “So, this is a learning lesson for us, but that doesn’t happen overnight, and we know we have a long way to go.”

The Sixers will get a chance to bounce back on Wednesday night against a tough opponent in the Boston Celtics. Once again, Wednesday’s game offers a potential playoff opponent, giving the Sixers a big test as the second half of the season continues.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.