Tobias Harris to miss Sixers’ game against the Atlanta Hawks with illness

The forward has already missed eight games this season, including a long COVID-19 absence. He is now dealing with an unrelated illness.

Sixers forward Tobias Harris holds the basketball against the Orlando Magic on Monday, November 29, 2021 in Philadelphia.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

by Keith Pompey

Published Dec. 3, 2021, 12:41 p.m. ET

ATLANTA — Tobias Harris will miss the 76ers’ Friday night game against the Atlanta Hawks with an illness not related to COVID-19.

This comes after the standout power forward missed Friday morning’s shootaround at State Farm Arena. Harris had been dealing with a bad cold since Thursday.

“He’s struggling,” coach Doc Rivers said before Friday’s game. “The flu hit him really hard.”

While Rivers labeled it as the flu, Harris was undergoing tests to determine his illness.

The 11th-year veteran has already missed eight games this season. He was sidelined six games from Nov. 1-9 after testing positive for COVID-19. Then Harris missed two games on Nov. 22-24 with a strained left hip.

“He’s down about it, because he feels like he can’t catch a break,” Rivers said. “And I tell him the same thing, like, ‘It’s going to all work out at some point.’ At some point, your hip is going to feel great. You’re not going to have COVID. You’re not going to have the flu, and you are going to go on a run, and just kind of hang in there.”

The 29-year-old is the team’s second-leading scorer, averaging 19.2 points. He’s also averaging career-highs of 8.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists.