Philadelphia 76ers: Tobias Harris speaks about Kobe, Sixer struggles and more

Struggles against weaker competition

The Sixers are clearly among the more talented teams in the league, but they still find themselves sitting sixth in the Eastern Conference. A big part of this underachievement comes from the fact they have struggled in games against clearly weaker opponents.

I asked Harris if there’s something to the idea the Philadelphia 76ers simply don’t get up for games they don’t view as big games.

"“If you just look at it, you would definitely think that there’s something to it, but it’s not something where if we play a subpar team, it’s like we’re going to coast.” Harris continued, “I think obviously we haven’t been that good on the road this year, and that’s number one. But at home we’ve been freaking amazing.”"

Tobias Harris is right about that. The Sixers are incredible at home. They have the best record on their homecourt at 22-2, they have the second-best net rating at +10. It’s the road where they struggle and are just plain bad.

Their 9-16 road record is the third-worst among all playoff teams. Their road net rating is tied for 17th with the Chicago Bulls.

It’s something the Sixers are aware of:

"“It’s just a matter of us generating energy, and we realize though that on the road it’s tough to win. And you got to be really good, really locked in. Our defense has for sure slipped on the road, and our mental toughness has got to be better in road games,” Harris said. “That’s something that we will continue to grow on and get better at but it’s something that we’ve addressed as a team.”"

The mighty zone

In a December game against the Miami Heat, the Sixers ran into a complication. Thanks to the Heat’s lack of depth and their best defender, Justise Winslow, they unleashed their zone on the Philadelphia 76ers. It was effective at the time, and other teams followed suit as they tried to slow the Sixers down.

"“I mean, it works, but a lot of teams have shown the zone and then we make two 3s and they take the zone off. Zones work if you’re able to get some stops first but if you make some 3s or get some layups, teams take the zone off real quick. If you get off to a good start versus the zone, they’ll take it off,” Harris said."

The Sixers do have unique challenges when facing a zone. Joel Embiid is a center who can be turnover prone when he has the ball in his hands (although less so now than in previous years), and Ben Simmons is a lead ball-handler who doesn’t look for his own shot on the perimeter.

Still, Tobias Harris is confident the Philadelphia 76ers have the shooting and spacing to combat the zone and force teams out of it.

"“If you miss an open 3 and the next shot you get is open and you start questioning yourself, that’s when they have you. It’s not like zone scares us at all. I think we have enough shooting to be able to be efficient against it.”"

Harris is right that the Sixers are efficient against the zone. The Philadelphia 76ers score 1.0 points per possession against the zone, 12th-best in the NBA.

Even though they’re better than average against the zone, opponents deploy it more against them than any other team in the league at 7.1 percent. That’s a full percentage point higher than the second-place Houston Rockets and five percentage points above the median.

Fortunately for the Sixers, there’s time to get things right. They’re four games behind the second-place Raptors and two games behind the third-place Boston Celtics. If they can solve their road issues, they may yet be a force to reckon with in the Eastern Conference.