‘Positive vibrations’ — and a new puppy — help Tobias Harris rediscover rhythm with new-look Sixers

Tobias Harris recently adopted an American Bully puppy, and has been learning when he needs to wake up to take her on a morning walk.

“She’s aggressive,” Harris said with a chuckle. “That’s all I can tell you right now.”

Consider it a life lesson in adaptability to pair with the 76ers forward’s ongoing basketball adjustments.

After a slow start following the All-Star break, which coincided with James Harden’s implementation following the blockbuster trade between the Sixers and Brooklyn Nets, Harris has rediscovered some offensive flow this week. He hit the game-winning three-pointer in overtime Sunday in Orlando, which punctuated a 26-point effort on 10-of-18 shooting. Three nights later, he totaled an efficient 19 points on 13 shots and was a game-high plus-21 in Wednesday’s win at Cleveland.

» READ MORE: James Harden hasn’t proven himself yet with the Sixers, but there are signs of promise

It has been a dose of on-court payoff for a player teammate Georges Niang calls the “spirit” of the Sixers, and who has perhaps sacrificed the most since Harden arrived.

“You do whatever you can to be what I call a positive vibration towards the team,” Harris said. “No matter what it is, to bring a positive energy to everything. For me, the adjustment, it’s just life. You figure it out. That’s the beauty of it, right? In that time, you’re going to struggle, as well.

“It isn’t [always] going to be the greatest of nights. And I think, for our whole team, this whole time right now, we’re going to go through ups and downs. But it’s just about how to figure it out.”

This is the most recent layer of a strange and sometimes frustrating season for Harris, who has already endured a chronic shoulder injury and significant bout with COVID-19, a shooting slump, and boos from the Philly crowd.

It is also the first time Harris has played this type of complementary role in his career. With the ball now in Harden’s hands, Harris is no longer involved in as many pick and rolls and isolation plays. Instead, he must stay alert for catch-and-shoot three-point opportunities and become a cutter off Harden, which coach Doc Rivers said he has “never” previously asked Harris to fulfill with the Sixers or Los Angeles Clippers. Decisiveness to shoot, drive or pass when he does get the ball remains a priority. And “whether it’s 18 shots [or] whether it’s eight shots,” efficiency is crucial.

“That’s my job,” Harris said. “And to bring the intensity and the leadership throughout the game on both ends of the floor. Each night and each game is an opportunity to do those things, and I’m hard on myself to do them at a high level.

“I know things are just going to continue to work in my favor by the work that I put in and the energy that I come in with day after day, and that’s just how I look at things.”

Against Orlando, the Sixers deliberately got the ball in Harris’ hands early, finding success with a handful of deep post touches. Then when they executed a pick and roll with Harden and Joel Embiid late in overtime, the secondary actions left Harris open in the right corner to collect the Harden feed for the bucket that clinched the victory.

“For me personally, it’s a big shot,” Harris said. “And I think it’s just a combination of just patience with everything and opportunity and looks that I get on the floor and just [being] able to be settled in what things are now.”

When Rivers was asked about Harris’ quieter 10-point outing in a loss against Denver the following night, the coach snapped back by saying, “I swear to God there’s only one ball, and only one guy’s going to be able to shoot it. … The third guy always struggles getting shots. That’s just the way it is. He’s going to have some big nights for us, and then he’s going to have some nights where he doesn’t get it as much but he’s going to do other things.”

Harris was back in the mix throughout Wednesday’s win over the Cavaliers. He converted off drives by creating space in the paint and in transition. He hit a three-pointer right before the halftime buzzer, and another early in the fourth quarter after Harden had called Harris to screen. Rivers also praised Harris’ focus and awareness as a defender on Caris LeVert and in the Sixers’ past five games, noting “putting him on guards [is] something, I can tell you, I never thought I would do.”

That Harris would not divulge many details about his new canine pal — “I don’t want people cursing on my puppy now if we have a bad game,” he quipped — perhaps provides a glimpse at how he’s felt this season.

As a non-All-Star on a max contract who has struggled at times, Harris is an easy target for outside criticism. He is averaging 17.9 points per game on 48% shooting, along with 7.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game entering Friday, and had been playing his best basketball of the season leading into the trade deadline — when the Sixers retained him after exploring options to deal him to clear cap space.

» READ MORE: Doc Rivers and the Sixers are struggling to solve their bench problem: ‘They have to seize the moment’

But Harris did not panic when his scoring chances dwindled and the fit looked clunky initially after Harden joined the team, a particularly jarring development when Embiid and Tyrese Maxey thrived right away. He spoke publicly about understanding that his role would change, and assured that it would not impact his demeanor with teammates. Though his scoring average has dropped to 15.8 points over his past five games, he is shooting 51.7% from the floor and 52.2% on 4.6 three-point attempts per game.

“Everybody [was] making a huge deal [out] of three games,” Harris recalled Sunday. “And I’m just sitting back and evaluating, watching film, going in the gym and putting up extra shots and staying in rhythm.

“Because I knew I’m an adapter, and I’ve always been an adapter in any situation.”

Now, the spirit of the new-look Sixers is seeing some payoff.

“It slowly has come, but he’s sacrificed so much for this team to be able to go,” Niang said. “Sacrificing individual accolades, individual statistics. If you watch him out there, he’s flying around on defense, doing the little things that we need to be successful.

“I’m just so happy that he got the reward of being able to make that three [in Orlando] … because I know how much he sacrifices and how much hard work he puts into his game.”