Return to the court is a confidence boost for the Sixers’ Tobias Harris

Tobias Harris was happy with the way he felt if not the way he and his teammates played during the 76ers’ 124-117 loss on Thursday to the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum.

As much as the Sixers forward has accomplished this year, averaging 20.4 points and 7.1 rebounds and shooting 52% from the field, including 40% from three-point range and 88.7% from the foul line, Harris went into the game looking for confidence.

Not in his game but in his knee. Harris missed the previous three games with a bone bruise in his right knee, and he said he came out of the contest feeling fine physically.

“It was just allowing it time to heal, and to be able to wake up and be pain-free, and to be able to do those types of movements on the floor,” he said after the game. “So a lot of it was just rest and recovery for myself.”

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There was definitely rust in his game early, as coach Doc Rivers alluded to, and Harris would agree. His overall statistics weren’t bad: 8-for-16 shooting, 18 points, two rebounds, six assists and just one turnover in just under 30 minutes.

However, the rust that Rivers talked about was apparent in the first half, when the Sixers trailed, 77-60. Harris shot just 2-for-7 with four points and a minus-18 rating over the first two quarters. He had a big third quarter (6-for-8, 12 points), but the Sixers trailed by 21 points entering the fourth and the game was essentially over.

Still, his performance gave him assurance about his knee.

“To be out there, it’s just about finding that balance and a rhythm. But it was a good game for ... my confidence, to be able to know that I was able to play and not feel anything, and to not feel any pain in that area, and to be able to have that confidence going forward,” Harris said.

Harris added that the final test would be how his knee felt the day after and eventually on Saturday afternoon when the teams meet again in Milwaukee.

During his absences this year, Harris has been missed. The Sixers are 4-5 in games he hasn’t played.

Harris has been a successful second scorer to Joel Embiid this year. Before this season, he had his most success playing for Rivers with the Los Angeles Clippers. In parts of two seasons covering 87 games, he averaged 20.3 points as a Clipper.

Once reunited with his former coach, Harris has been given the green light to shoot. Rivers has also told Harris he wants him being aggressive.

Harris has scored effectively from all over the court. According to nba.com stats, he is shooting 67.9% from less than five feet, 50.6% from 5 to 9 feet, 50% from 10 to 14 feet, 46.5% from 15 to 19 feet, 46.7% from 20 to 24 feet, and 39.8% from 25 to 29 feet.

All season, Rivers has cited Harris’s improved defense. But the coach wasn’t passing out praise for anybody’s D on Thursday.

The Bucks shot 20-for-40 from three-point range, many coming on wide-open shots. In a 40-26 first quarter, Milwaukee shot 73.7% from the field. Rivers called the Sixers “soft” defensively. The Sixers played like a team appearing in the second game of a back-to-back, after Wednesday’s 116-113 home loss to the Phoenix Suns. The Bucks, who hadn’t played since Monday, looked like the fresh team.

It didn’t help that defensive-player-of-the-year candidate Ben Simmons missed his third straight game because of illness. But for a team that is second in the NBA in defensive rating (allowing 107.2 points per 100 possessions), the Sixers were lacking.

» READ MORE: Sixers point guard Ben Simmons remains sidelined, didn’t make trip to Milwaukee

For the Sixers to gain a split in Milwaukee, the usually reliable defense has to show up. Harris and the team also can’t have such a rough first half. The start against the Bucks will be a key. It will all begin on the defensive end.

“We just have to be more connected out there defensively,” Harris said. “They got off to a really good start, and a lot of that was due to our mistakes out there on the floor defensively. ... I think the thing about these type of games is, it’s like a little mini-series. So we got to come back and be ready.”