Sixers’ Tobias Harris taking on several roles and making a difference on the margins

Tobias Harris continues to make a difference for the 76ers.

Joel Embiid’s 41 points and 10 assists were the major storyline in Tuesday’s 126-121 victory over the Denver Nuggets. The reigning MVP, once again, won the head-to-head battle against his nemesis, Denver center Nikola Jokić.

But the Sixers (26-13) may not have won this game without Harris’ contributions.

“Tobias had a big stretch when we were struggling, which was huge,” coach Nick Nurse said. “They kind of got the little lead, and we didn’t have a whole lot going offensively. And he scored three buckets in a row, and they were all tough buckets and that was huge.”

» READ MORE: Sixers-Nuggets takeaways: Joel Embiid praises —and outplays — Nikola Jokić in MVP showdown

Harris also made the Nuggets (28-14) pay early in the second half when they decided to double-team Embiid at the high post.

“He was just knocking down a couple shots,” Nurse said. “And again, that’s pretty good to get 24 [points] on 10 shots.”

Harris shot 80% from the field — including 2 of 4 on three-pointers — and made all six of his free throws. He also had five rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and a steal with a game-best plus-13 in 40 minutes.

The three straight buckets Nurse referenced came early in the fourth quarter with the Sixers down five and Embiid on the bench.

Harris scored on a driving floater 56 seconds into the quarter. Then he added a 14-foot turnaround fadeaway before making an 8-foot turnaround. Harris capped his stretch of eight consecutive points with a pair of foul shots to keep the Sixers within four points (111-107) with 8 minutes, 22 seconds left.

The Sixers knotted the score at 113 after a three-pointer by Marcus Morris and Tyrese Maxey’s driving finger roll. From there, Embiid scored 11 straight to give them a 124-115 cushion with 46 seconds remaining.

Fourteen of Harris’ 24 points came when he shot 5-for-5 — including his two three-pointers — in the second half.

He has shown a lot of versatility and taken on multiple roles over the last four games.

Harris scored 32 and 37 points against the Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings on Wednesday and Friday, respectively, with Embiid sidelined with left knee swelling. Harris had 10 points against the Houston Rockets on Monday in Embiid’s return.

» READ MORE: How will Joel Embiid’s injuries affect his legacy?

In addition to his clutch scoring against the Nuggets, Harris provided solid defense. The 6-foot-8, 226-pounder even had some success guarding the 6-11, 285-pound Jokić, who finished with 25 points, 19 rebounds, three assists and a game-worst four turnovers.

“I think for somebody that’s as good of a passer as he is, kind of plays the center-point [guard] for them from time to time of where they run their offense through,” Harris said of defending the two-time MVP, “a lot of him bringing the basketball up, so just make those looks a little more difficult.

“Pick him up full-court, I think that kind of disrupted some of their offensive rhythm. And [it was] a look they probably haven’t seen too much throughout the year. I thought it was a great game plan for us and we went back and forth a lot to show them different reads and different looks.”

Harris’ two-way contributions aren’t going unnoticed by his teammates and coaches.

“No one is talking about him, but Tobias was huge again, as he’s been the last couple games,” Embiid said, “and all season, really. He was huge, especially to start that fourth quarter. He kept us in and we just closed it out.”