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Sixers-Knicks takeaways: Recent win looks like a mirage; Tobias Harris can’t be a bystander

The Sixers became the first team since the 2018-19 Detroit Pistons to score fewer than 80 points in consecutive games.

Sunday’s victory over the New York Knicks could have been fool’s gold.

Tobias Harris can’t continue to disappear in games. And the 76ers are a step too slow.

Those three things stood out in the Sixers’ 106-79 loss to the Knicks on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

» READ MORE: Sixers’ offense flops in Tyrese Maxey’s return as the New York Knicks cruise at the Garden

Fool’s gold?

There was some optimism after the Sixers defeated the Knicks, 79-73, Sunday night, snapping a three-game skid. With Tyrese Maxey due back from a concussion, some fans believed the Sixers had a chance of sweeping the two-game series in New York.

Not even close.

The Knicks (38-27) imposed their will from the start. Meanwhile, the Sixers (36-29) showed why they’re a squad on a downward spiral since Joel Embiid has been sidelined after left knee surgery.

Kelly Oubre Jr. paced the Sixers with 19 points on 7-for-15 shooting. Maxey had 17 points on 6-for-14 shooting, along with four assists after missing the last four games. And Paul Reed added 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting to go with eight rebounds. But the rest of the Sixers combined to shoot 11-for-43.

They also had no answers for Josh Hart, who torched them for 20 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists.

This was an ugly loss, one that was hard to watch. The Sixers became the first team since the 2018-19 Detroit Pistons to score fewer than 80 points in consecutive games. Back then, the Brooklyn Nets held the Pistons to 75 points on March 11, 2019. Two nights later, the Miami Heat held them to 75.

The Sixers have lost 16 of their last 22 games.

Where was Harris?

It was hard to tell that Harris averaged 17.4 points through his first 58 games of the season. He had a season-low two points on 1-for-6 shooting against the Knicks, and was held scoreless in the first half while shooting 0-for-3.

He missed two three-point attempts in the opening 1 minute, 50 seconds of the game. Then Harris missed an 11-foot jumper early in the second quarter. Aside from those attempts, he was a bystander in the first half. That performance was rooted in a lack of aggressiveness on his part and the other Sixers failing to get him involved.

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Harris came out more aggressive after intermission, scoring his first basket on a layup 2:58 into the second half. However, he missed his second third-quarter attempt before missing his lone fourth-quarter attempt.

Harris needs more than six attempts for the Sixers to have any chance to win with Embiid sidelined. He needs to shoot the ball at least 20 times. A good start in that direction would involve getting him out of the corners and setting up action that has him cutting to the basket.

Step too slow

Harris’ struggles on defense were worse than his offensive shortcomings. Knicks players did whatever they wanted against him. But he wasn’t alone. Most of the Sixers had a tough time staying in front of the Knicks. As a result, New York got a lot of open perimeter shots. When the Knicks weren’t doing knocking down looks from deep, they blew by the Sixers on their way to the rim.

Give the Knicks credit, they picked up the tempo and were in attack mode more than the Sixers. Meanwhile, the Sixers looked helpless for the most part. Things will get ugly on Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks if they don’t correct this.