Sixers look to get Tobias Harris going, adjust to pick-and-roll with hope of stealing Game 3 vs. Celtics
Harris is averaging 14 points on 33.3% shooting in the playoffs, including missing all five of his three-pointers.
KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The 76ers are in need of some major adjustments.
That was evident following Wednesday’s 128-101 Game 2 loss to the Boston Celtics in their first-round series. If they don’t adjust, the Sixers are going to have the same result in Game 3 Friday night at The Field House.
The Sixers trail 2-0 in the best-of-seven series at the Wide World of Sports Complex. It’s still a series if they win Friday, but it’s basically over if they lose. It just a matter of when the Celtics will end it.
“I feel like a series really gets started when the other team wins,” Al Horford said before Thursday’s practice. “Whether it’s 1-1 or 2-1, whatever. So this next game for us is important.
“I just want the group to focus on that, and make sure we come out and do a better job.”
Right now, the Sixers still have a slim chance. They just have to make the proper adjustments.
They’ll have to find a way to get Tobias Harris going and do a better job with their pick-and-roll defense.
Harris is averaging 14.0 points on just 33.3% shooting, including missing all five of his three-pointers in the first two games. He’s made 4 of 9 shots at the rim and is 1-for-7 on 3- to 10-footers.
The forward must help Joel Embiid carry the scoring load in order for Sixers to make this a series.
“I think that we can push the button more than we are on just running, just getting out in open court,” coach Brett Brown said of getting Harris involved. “That’s probably the number one thing.”
Another option is baiting switches in order to have Boston’s 6-foot point guard Kemba Walker guarding the 6-9 Harris in a mismatch. They’ll also look to post up Harris more and flare him out to shoot three-pointers.
“I think he’s been doing a pretty good job of attacking, getting to the rim,” the coach said. “We just really haven’t been finishing to the level he’s been used to.”
But the Sixers’ biggest adjustment needs to be their pick-and-roll defense. They can’t continue to let Walker come off the screens and hit wide-open 15- and 16-foot shots.
They’ll also have to adjust their defensive strategy for Jayson Tatum. He is averaging 32.5 points and shooting 58.8% from three-point land through two games.
The Sixers need to be more physical against Tatum. They need a defender to be on-body and push him around off the ball. They also need to give him different defensive looks.
He and Walker kept scoring in the pick-and-roll like it was practice. As Embiid sat in the paint, the Celtics kept sending the man he guarded to set a screen. That enabled the Celtics’ two All-Stars to punish the Sixers with wide-open pull-up jumpers.
“I really haven’t seen that much space in a very long time,” Walker said.
The Sixers relying on analytics had a lot to do with Embiid remaining in the paint. They don’t want players to get behind the center and score at the rim. They’re more concerned about that and giving up three-pointers than mid-range jumpers.
But Boston still drained three-pointers, depending on where the screens were at on the floor. The Celtics also attacked and scored on Embiid at the rim. So that tactic didn’t work.
In the second half, Boston didn’t use the pick-and-roll as much on made threes. They didn’t need to. Many of their three-point attempts were open looks.
Boston made 19 of 43 three-pointers (44.2%). Tatum was 8-for-12 from behind the arc, while Walker was 1-for-6. He did make 7 of 10 shots inside the arc.
“In the second half, we had our bigs up in pick-and-rolls,” Brown said. “In the first half, maybe we could had gone at it sooner. ... Could we have had the bigs up sooner, maybe.
“But it’s never clear cut the ripple effects of what happens behind say Joel being up aren’t more punishing than that adjustment.”
The adjustment Brown spoke of was minimum at best with Embiid on the floor.
He came up on the deep drop, but not all the way on the screen. Embiid positioned himself out of the lane. However, there was still plenty of room for someone to shoot the ball. After the Celtics’ lead expanded, he stopped defending.