Tobias Harris delivers (again) in the absence of Joel Embiid

Much has been made this season of the All-Star snub of 76ers forward Tobias Harris, and some of the noise has come from the player himself.

During a 30-point performance in a win over the New York Knicks on March 16, Harris turned to the crowd and said, “I am an All-Star,” after a late-game basket.

Harris has backed up his talk while the Sixers have been without four-time All-Star center Joel Embiid during the most recent stretch. Tuesday’s 108-98 win at Golden State was the sixth straight game that Embiid has missed with a left knee bone bruise after suffering the injury during a 127-101 win in Washington on March 12. Instead of crumbling, the Sixers (31-13) have gone 5-1, the only loss a 109-105 overtime home defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks.

On Tuesday at Golden State, Harris played all 12 fourth-quarter minutes and scored 9 of his 25 points as the Sixers outscored the Warriors, 28-13. The team has looked for him in late-game roles, not only in Embiid’s absence, but the entire season.

“It’s a role I have always wanted to be in as a player and I think the biggest thing for me is executing during those plays,” Harris said. “I am willing to live with the results, what they can be. My attitude is not to get the highlights or the praise, but to get the win.”

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In those six games without Embiid, Harris is averaging 24.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4.3 assists, while shooting 50% from three-point range and 92.9% from the foul line in 35.5 minutes. These numbers are up from his season averages (20.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists).

Even during an off game, Harris still has made big plays. During Sunday’s 101-100 overtime win at New York, he struggled from the field, shooting 5 of 18 while scoring 20 points. Still, he hit two free throws to give the Sixers a 101-100 lead with 5.3 seconds left.

One area that can’t be measured by statistics is the leadership that the 28-year-old Harris has provided.

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“I think he’s had the leadership role the whole year,” coach Doc Rivers said. “I think he is clearly one of our leaders if not the leader because of his age.”

While the offense runs through Embiid, Rivers emphasized that Harris has had his number called frequently when both are on the court.

“Down the stretch with Joel, we’ve gone to Tobias as well,” Rivers said. “Obviously right now, Tobias is our guy down the stretch, but when Joel comes back, having both of those guys, with the shooting we have on the floor and then the playmaking of Ben [Simmons], it is a pretty good situation,”

The Sixers (31-13) have won three in a row and 9 of 10. They resume their road trip on Thursday in Los Angeles against a Lakers team that will be without injured All-Stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Embiid will remain out. The team will reevaluate him at the end of the week. The Sixers have also played the last three games without Seth Curry, sidelined with a sprained left ankle.

Without Embiid and Curry, Harris has shown that he’s certainly up for the challenge.