Tobias Harris scores 26 to lead the Sixers over San Antonio
The Sixers had six players score in double figures on the way to winning their third straight game.
Tobias Harris talked recently about never losing his confidence, even when his jumper temporarily abandoned him.
The shots are now going in and Harris is aggressively taking the ball to the basket with strong results.
Since going through a 1-for-24 three-point shooting slump during a six-game stretch, Harris has done an about-face.
That continued on Friday when he scored 26 points as the Sixers defeated the San Antonio Spurs, 115-104, at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Sixers (10-5) have won three in a row heading into Saturday night’s home game against Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat. Miami improved to 11-3 with Friday’s win over Chicago.
The current three-game winning streak began when Harris shot 12-for-14 and scored 27 points in a 114-95 win at Cleveland.
Against the Spurs, the 6-foot-8 Harris kept taking smaller defenders to the basket with great success. He shot 10-of-16 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range.
“Tonight, the opportunity came my way and I was able to take advantage of it,” Harris said.
He was following orders from coach Brett Brown, who has been encouraging Harris to attack.
“It is what I have said many times; I want him to find the rim,” Brown said. “I want him to score.”
Harris did both to please his coach.
“I want him to be aggressive and I thought tonight he tried to impact the game in several ways with that aggressive mentality,” Brown said.
Joel Embiid added 21 points and 14 rebounds and Al Horford contributed 18 points, nine rebounds, and six assists.
Ben Simmons had an off-shooting night (3 for 10) but still recorded a triple-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists.
It was the second straight game where Simmons had 13 assists, getting that season-high total in Wednesday’s 109-104 win over the New York Knicks.
Furkan Korkmaz, starting the second straight game for the injured Josh Richardson (hip), had 17 points.
James Ennis has scored in double figures in each of the last three wins, after providing 13 against the Spurs.
The Sixers out-rebounded San Antonio, 51-32.
With six players in double figures, the Sixers received the type of balanced scoring they are striving for.
“Different games, we have had different guys step up and making plays tonight,” Harris said. “I thought we got into a good rhythm.”
San Antonio (5-11) has qualified for the playoffs 22 consecutive years, a streak that is in serious jeopardy.
The Spurs have now lost eight consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 15-30, 1996.
DeMar DeRozan led the Spurs with 29 points.
Leading 103-97, the Sixers went on an 8-3 run to extend their lead to 111-100 when Kormaz hit a three with 2 minutes and 28 seconds left.
The Sixers led, 59-52, at halftime and didn’t crumble when Embiid committed his third foul with 9:36 left in the second quarter, forcing him to sit out the rest of the half. At the time, the Sixers led, 32-27.
Embiid only played 12:01 in the first half, scoring nine points. He would play only 27:36 for the game and was asked afterward if that was a blessing in disguise because he would be fresher against Miami.
“It doesn’t matter,” Embiid said. “I want to play every game. Load management, that is some B.S. I want to play every game and be on the court."