Harris’ late 3 seals Sixers’ win over Knicks
NEW YORK >> The 76ers haven’t won as much on the road as they’d like. They relied on defense to get it done at Madison Square Garden.
Tobias Harris hit a goahead 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter, Ben Simmons had 21 points and Philadelphia beat the New York Knicks 90-87 on Saturday night for its third straight victory.
“I thought our defense really fueled us throughout the game,” Harris said. “We did a good job defensively of getting our stops, getting out in transition.”
Josh Richardson added 18 points and reserve Furkan Korkmaz scored 17 for the 76ers, who snapped a six-game road losing streak. Their last win away from home was Dec. 23 at Detroit. Philadelphia is 2816 overall but just 8-14 on the road.
It was the second straight game — and the third overall this season — that the 76ers held an opponent under 90 points.
“It was a real sense of urgency of getting a win on the road and getting stops down the stretch,” Al Horford said. “Defensively, this was kind of like an old-school type of game.”
Marcus Morris Sr. scored 20 points and missed a half-court heave at the buzzer for the Knicks, who have lost three straight. Julius Randle had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Philadelphia scored five straight points to extend its lead 84-77 on a threepoint play from Harris with 6:45 left in the fourth quarter.
New York then rallied late with a 10-2 run and took a 87-86 lead when Morris sank a jumper over Simmons with 31 seconds left in regulation.
The 76ers called a timeout to advance the ball past half court and Simmons found a wide-open Harris — who made 5 of 13 shots and finished with 15 points — for his fourth 3-pointer of the night to put Philadelphia ahead 8987 with 28 seconds to play.
New York had a chance to tie, but Simmons and Harris swarmed Randle on an inbound play and forced the ball out of bounds.
Korkmaz’s free throw with 4.2 seconds left sealed it for the 76ers.
Simmons had 16 points to help the 76ers build a 52-46 lead heading into the half.