Tobias Harris’s efficiency, Tyrese Maxey’s restraint and James Harden’s confounding shooting inside the arc.
That’s a sampling of what we have in today's edition of Roob’s 10 Random 76ers Observations.
A MODEL OF EFFICIENCY: Tobias Harris has been so good so far in this series, and he’s such a pivotal guy on this team. I think what can be frustrating about Tobias is that he’s a max contract player who doesn’t have a max contract mentality. He’s just not a guy who’s ever going to think in terms of going out there and trying to take over a game. He doesn’t think that way and he doesn't play that way. He’s just trying to make the right play, and he usually does. But he’s been more aggressive lately and seems to be adjusting to having James Harden on the court. He’s making shots, burying 3’s, rebounding, dishing and not making mistakes. Heck, he even has four blocks in the two wins over the Raptors. When Harris is playing like this, he's really a perfect compliment to Embiid, Maxey and Harden.
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IT’S WHAT HE DIDN’T DO: In a series where Tyrese Maxey has scored 61 points in the first two games – only Wilt, Allen, Charles, Moses, Doc, Toney and Joel have scored more in 76ers history – it was a quarter where Maxey didn’t score that was particularly impressive. Coming off that historic 38-point performance in Game 1, it had to be so tempting for Maxey to want to put up another big number in Game 2. He knows people are watching and wondering, ‘Can he do it again?” So first quarter Monday, all Maxey did was go 0-for-1 from the field with three assists in a scoreless first quarter. He dished. He facilitated. He ran. He defended. He didn’t force a thing. It was all about doing what the team needed, not about himself. So while Embiid was scoring 19 and taking command of the game, Maxey was going through his eighth scoreless first quarter since the middle of December. And when the game did come to him he was ready. He finally scored his first basket on a short floater four minutes into the second quarter, and then the flood gates opened. After 16 scoreless minutes, he scored 10 points in 61 seconds as the 76ers pulled away, and he finished with 23 on 8-for-11 from the field. For a young kid to play with that much discipline and awareness and maturity is just as special as all the incredible baskets he’s made.
PAUL REED VICTORY TOUR: When the second quarter began with the Raptors leading 33-32, Doc Rivers subbed Paul Reed for Embiid, who had played all 12 minutes in that 19-point first quarter. When Embiid returned with 6:18 left in the first half, the 76ers were up 55-44. For the 76ers to go on a 22-12 run in a pivotal playoff game with Embiid on the bench is huge. Reid had never played important playoff minutes before these two games, but he was plus-four in 11 minutes in Game 1 and plus-eight in Game 2. It’s encouraging when the 76ers don’t lose ground when Embiid is on the bench. When they can actually gain ground, that’s a really encouraging sign.
HELP OFF THE BENCH: Shake Milton’s return after that nearly two-month absence has been an underrated plus. It took him a while after that layoff with a back injury to get his mojo back, but he’s been a nice addition to a short bench rotation. In his first 45 games this year – through the middle of March – Milton was shooting 41.8 percent and 30.4 percent from 3 and averaging 7.9 per game. In 12 games since, he’s shooting 48.3 percent and 41.2 from 3 and averaging 9.1. Doc’s given Shake 14 minutes in each of the first two playoff games, and he’s 4-for-7 from the field and 2-3 from 3. Getting that quick jolt of backcourt offense and playmaking off the bench a couple times a game has been missing.
FIGURING IT ALL OUT: I feel like Rivers has made the best of a tricky Matisse Thybulle situation. Doc has only given him 29 ½ minutes in the first two games, and that’s the fewest minutes he’s gotten in any two-game period all year and about half his regular-season average of 26 per game. You can’t just not play him. But you also can’t play him his usual 26 minutes and then just make wholesale changes when you get to Toronto. So far, Doc has found a decent balance.
NBA
BURYING THEIR 3’S: The 76ers have been smart about taking 3’s all year. They ranked 27th in the league with 32 attempts per game but 7th in accuracy at 36.4 percent. So they don’t take a ton, but they hit a high percentage. And we’re seeing that big-time in this series. Unlike the Raptors, who just fire away from anywhere regardless of whether they’re open (I’m looking at you, Fred VanVleet), the 76ers have used terrific shot selection so far when shooting from range. I can’t think of more than two or three 3’s they’ve forced in these two games. They’re taking them when they’re open, and when you have a presence like Embiid, they’re open a lot. And they’re falling. The 76ers are only the fifth team in NBA history to attempt at least 60 3’s in the first two games of a series and hit at least 48 percent of them. Embiid has only attempted four (and made one), which helps. He hasn’t been shooting well from range lately. And Danny Green had that 0-for-5 in Game 1. But check this out: Harris, Georges Niang, Maxey, Harden, Milton and Thybulle are each shooting 46 percent or better in the two wins, and they’re a combined 26-for-44 for 59 percent. That obviously won’t continue, but I like the concept. This team can bury open 3’s. As long as the Raptors give them open looks, they're going to hit 'em.
THE JAMES HARDEN CONUNDRUM: Just about every time Harden tries to drive the lane through traffic something bad happens. He’s shot well in the series from deep - 5-for-11 - but he’s made just four of 15 shots inside the paint. Exceptional passer. Solid rebounder. Great foul shooter. Will rattle in some step-back 3’s. But whether it’s age or the hammy or both, he just doesn’t have the juice right now to get through the lane. And he’s not getting calls when he tries because defenders don’t need to reach. The deeper the 76ers go in the postseason, the more I think Harden is going to have to adjust his game to think more like a facilitator than a scorer.
AND THIS IS CRAZY: After shooting 59.2 percent from the field in his first four games as a 76er, Harden is at 36.4 percent in his last 19 games, and that’s 8th-worst in the NBA among 197 players who’ve taken at least 100 shots during that span. He’s also made only 42.5 percent of his 2’s during that stretch, which ranks 183rd out of 197. Not that he’s shooting great outside the arc, but he’s never been a high-percentage bomber. He’s 36 percent for his career, 34 percent as a 76er. But Harden is a 51.2 percent career shooter from 2-point range. And he’s nearly 10 percent below that. He’s literally been one of the worst 2-point shooters in the NBA for the past month.