Sixers vs. Raptors takeaways: Latest win is a sign that improved team still has work to do, and Tobias Harris must stay involved

The 76ers still have a lot of things to correct.

One of them is finding a way to keep Tobias Harris involved throughout the game. But on the positive side, the Sixers won a game they definitely would have lost earlier in the season.

Below is my look at three things that stood out during Monday’s 104-101 overtime victory over the Toronto Raptors at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Sixers’ closer-than-expected victory enabled them to extend their winning streak to five games for the first time since March 4 of last season. The Eastern Conference’s fifth-place team also improved to 17-12 and remains a game behind the fourth-place Brooklyn Nets and a ½ game ahead of the sixth-place New York Knicks. The Sixers’ goal is to be atop of the standings at the conclusion of the regular season.

However, they would have to play much better than they did against the Raptors (13-18), losers of six straight games, for that to happen.

Not only is Toronto a struggling team, it was playing with a couple of key players. The Raptors were also playing in their second game in as many nights while the Sixers were well rested, but you would have sworn it was the other way around.

Tobias Harris (21 points) and reserves Danuel House Jr. (nine) and Montrezl Harrell (seven) were the only Sixers who didn’t struggle from the field.

That and a lack of ball movement caused the Sixers to keep blowing leads.

They had an 11-point cushion in the first quarter only to trail by one at the conclusion of the quarter.

The Sixers had a 14-point cushion in the third quarter only to trail by seven points twice in the fourth quarter, including a 96-89 deficit with 4 minutes, 15 seconds left in regulation.

» READ MORE: The Sixers are on a winning streak. What does it mean?

“We got the win, but we know, it’s not just about the last two performances, even during this win streak, we can still be much better as a team,” Joel Embiid said. “I think we’ve been playing great. Tonight, offensively, we had a couple of great stretches. Defensively, I thought we were pretty good.

“But we know where we want to end up, we can never be satisfied.”

The Sixers shot just 31.6% in the first quarter. Harris scored 10 of his 21 points in the quarter on 3-for-3 shooting — including making two three-pointers. However, his teammates combined to shoot 3 of 16, including 1-for-7 on threes. The Sixers then shot 13 of 33 in the second half, including making 31.2% of their three-pointers.

“In the third quarter, we can’t go away from what’s working, and that was picking apart their defense,” Harris said. “They’re a team that blitzes and throws double teams and what not. We didn’t make as many shots as we would have liked tonight, but during the third quarter we needed to stick to this goal. I thought we got a little too comfortable out there. Yeah, like 11-point lead and what not.

“Going forward, we just got to stay humble and just keep picking them apart and keep getting open shots.”

The Sixers needed to keep Harris involved.

But as has been the case this season, they went away from him despite him being the hottest Sixer.

Harris scored on a running dunk 1 minute, 59 seconds into the game. Forty seconds later, he buried a 25-foot three-pointer. Then he drained a 24-foot three-pointer at the midway point of the quarter. And he made a pair of foul shots that gave the Sixers a 17-8 lead at the 5:00 mark of the quarter.

Despite his stellar start, Harris didn’t attempt a shot or score a point while playing 8:46 in the second quarter. He missed his first two shot attempts — both three-pointers — in the third quarter before draining a three with 7:42 left in the quarter. Then he added a turnaround jumper at the 2:44 mark. However, Harris made his lone shot attempt — a three — in the fourth quarter. Then he drained another big three-pointer on his only attempt in overtime.

The power forward made 7 of 9 shots, including 5 of 7 three-pointers on the night.

“It was great,” Embiid said of Harris’ performance. “He’s a star in his role. That’s what he’s been doing all season. Knocking down big shots, even the ones that got taken away for whatever reason. He’s been great.”

Harris has been great. But this is the second time in six games the Sixers decided not to go to him when he was their best player at the moment. The last time led to a double-overtime road loss to the Houston Rockets on Dec. 5. Against Houston, the Sixers didn’t find Harris in the fourth quarter and overtime sessions.

On Monday, the Sixers were fortunate that he drained what turned out to be the game-winning three-pointer with 2:12 left in overtime.

As bad as things were at times, the Sixers did pull out a win.

“We just weren’t ready,” Rivers said of early-season losses. “Tonight we just hung in there. You could see it early even with the lead. No one was comfortable with us, because you just saw we weren’t making shots. The fouling, we still got to get away from some of the fouls that we were committing, ushering them to the line.

“But we just hung in there enough.”

Rivers even got agitated when asked about his team blowing a third-quarter double-digit lead.

“Listen, everyone blows leads in this league,” he said. “That lead was blown in the fourth quarter beginning. So we won the game. I celebrate that. I’m not going to get into that.”

» READ MORE: Tobias Harris’ days as a Sixer might be numbered, but he’s needed now

Rivers wanted the focus to be on the positives. He mentioned how his team fought on a night they didn’t have it and missed wide open shots.

“When you do that, the other team probably at some point is probably going to make a run, and a lot of teams when they make a run, go the other way,” he said. “How bout talking about us coming back. ... And to me that should be celebrated.”

Rivers has a point.

Winning this type of game is a sign of improvement. However, this game also shows that they’re not quite ready to compete with the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks for conference supremacy.