Tobias Harris hopes Sixers get their mojo back in time for NBA playoffs
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Tobias Harris had a message for the 76ers heading into their final four games.
“Figure it out,” the Sixers forward said. “We gotta figure it out.”
Harris was adamant when he said the Sixers need to get their mojo back and play with the mental toughness he feels they lacked in Sunday’s 117-104 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum.
That marked the Sixers’ fifth loss in eight games, not the type of momentum a team wants to carry into the postseason.
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And things won’t get easier Tuesday night.
On the heels of losing to the Eastern Conference’s first-place Bucks, the Sixers will entertain the second-place Boston Celtics.
The Sixers head in the contest with a 51-27 record. They’re three games behind the Celtics, who hold a 54-24 record, in the battle for second.
A victory or a Cleveland Cavaliers loss to the Orlando Magic will ensure the Sixers finish with no lower than the conference’s third seed in the upcoming playoffs. However, a loss will eliminate the Sixers from finishing second. In addition to being assured of at least the second spot, the Celtics will also clinch the Atlantic Division title.
Boston is also looking to pull off their first regular-season series sweep of the Sixers since the 2015-16 season. The Celtics won this season’s first three games by an average of seven points.
The Sixers also look to erase memories of Sunday’s lackluster performance against Milwaukee. The Bucks shot 69.6% from the floor in the first half and led by as many 22 points.
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“I think even if a team comes out and makes shots, we still can combat that with getting some good looks out there,” Harris said. “We’ve shown throughout the year that we can do it. It’s just a matter of being consistent and figuring out how to create the best balance for the whole team to get in a flow out there. Those are things that we have to figure out.”
But the Sixers also displayed poor body language that hadn’t been present since the early stages of this season. Harris noted that his team looked defeated during stretches of the game. And Sixers guard De’Anthony Melton preached togetherness.
“We have to make sure we are doing all the right things,” De’Anthony Melton said, “make sure we’re all together. Make sure our chemistry is there. And [the team having an] understanding of how we want to win and what we want to give up and stuff like that to understand we all have each other’s backs, too.”
For the Sixers, the right things have always included moving the ball, playing physical basketball and limiting turnovers.
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After facing the Celtics, they’ll entertain the Miami Heat on Thursday. The next day the Sixers will play the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena. And they’ll conclude the season Sunday against the Brooklyn Nets at the Barclays Center.
“We don’t have much time to do it,” Harris said. “But when we’re defending and we’re rolling, that’s when we do it the best. But in games where we’re not getting enough stops and teams are making shots, we got to figure out how to do that at a high level.”
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