Super Sixers duo:
Doc Rivers finds a way to get most out of Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris and push Philly forward.
For the Philadelphia 76ers’ half-court offense to operate the way Doc Rivers needed it to, he knew he had to get more out of Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris.
Rivers figured if Embiid and Harris are flourishing at the offensive end, it’s likely the Sixers are, too.
“I think you play through your better players and your better players make everyone else better,” said Rivers via phone to USA TODAY. “You try to design your system so they are always a threat to score and everyone else is always in the right place to score if they are trying to take away our scorers.
“Joel’s going to get trapped, double-teamed, late trapped, denied, fronted, and we’re going to work on those. … They’re going to put smaller bodies on Tobias to try to take away his dribble, then we have to adjust for him to be a post player. When they put bigger guys on him, he’s got a speed advantage and so we bring him away from the basket.”
Embiid’s and Harris’ improvement in virtually every offensive category from a year ago is one of the reasons the Sixers lead the Eastern Conference with a 22-12 record.
The 7-foot Embiid, just voted an All-Star starter for the fourth time in five seasons of play, is averaging career highs in scoring (30 points), field goal percentage (.519), 3-point percentage (.415), free-throw percentage (.858) and free-throws attempted (11.9 per game). And he’s attempting a career-low 2.9 3-pointers per game.
The 6-8 Harris, a 10-year power forward, is averaging near or career highs in scoring (20.2), field goal percentage (.513), 3-point percentage (.411, compared to last season’s .367) and free-throw percentage (.891).
Rivers was quite familiar with the 28-year-old Harris, having coached him for parts of two seasons with the Clippers prior to the Sixers acquiring
Harris in a February 2019 trade. Harris’ stats in 55 games with Rivers in 2018-19 were similar to this year’s production.
Soon after taking the Philadelphia job in early October, Rivers was looking at tape of the right-handed Harris, who prefers to drive to his left, with the Sixers last season when he realized something.
“It’s funny,” Rivers said. “I’m sitting there watching all of his games from last year and everything (was going to his right). I called him on the phone and said, ‘Tobias, I’ve got to ask you something – which way do you like going?’ He said, ‘Well, I can go either way.’ I said, ‘That’s (baloney).’
“And he started laughing, (then replied), ‘Well, I know you think left.’ I said, ‘I know left. You can (go either way) – in a straight line right, but you shoot and drive left.’ He said, ‘I agree.’ I said, ‘Why wouldn’t you ever tell Brett (Brown) that?’ And he said, ‘I don’t know. He drew it up right, so I just did it.’ Sometimes the player has to help the coach.”
This year, Rivers is putting Harris in considerably more pick-and-rolls than Harris has been accustomed to as a Sixer and Harris generally receives the ball on the right wing, giving him plenty of room if he wants to drive to his left. Rivers has also increased Harris’ post-up opportunities.
“(We want) quick decisions, (going) downhill, no hesitation, and I call it the no-dance rule with him,” Rivers said. “There’s certain guys that are dancers – the James Hardens – and certain guys are not. Tobias is not. He gets himself in trouble when he does. But when he goes downhill, when he makes quick decisions, when he attacks, when he catch-and-shoots like he’s doing this year, he’s phenomenal.”
While all of Harris’ – and Embiid’s – offseason work has clearly been a factor during a season in which Harris had a case to become a first-time AllStar but wasn’t selected by the Eastern Conference coaches, he understands how much he’s benefited from Rivers coaching in Philly.
“(I give Rivers) a huge amount of credit,” Harris said recently. “Doc has always been a coach that’s able to find ways for me to be effective. He keeps the game simple for myself. … It’s good to be in a flow, in a rhythm that I’m in. I just want to keep it going.”
With point guard Ben Simmons sidelined by illness in a Feb. 19 game against the Bulls, Embiid and Harris carried the Sixers. Embiid finished with a career-high 50 points on 17for-26 shooting and 17 rebounds in a 112-105 victory. Harris overcame early foul trouble to contribute 22 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists.
“The old Tobias would’ve gotten frustrated and tried to force offense,” Rivers said. “He just let it come to him. That’s big for us and big for him.”
As for Embiid, Rivers has moved him around much more than Brown, the Sixers’ previous head coach, opted to do. Besides the low post, Embiid sets up in the mid-range, high post and even at the 3-point line, which is where Rivers repeatedly ran the offense through his talented center late in a home win over the Wizards this season.
Not staying in the same spot makes it more difficult for foes to double-team Embiid. And the attention the 26-year-old Embiid draws tends to produce better scoring chances for his teammates.
“The biggest advantage is this has become a switch-oriented league – everybody’s switching,” Rivers said. “Well, you’re not switching on Joel. Using him as the picker or the dribble-handoff guy, you know you’re creating action because that guy coming off, they’re not switching that, so that gives us an advantage.”
Plus, Embiid is capable of making short-, medium- and long-range shots, so he can cause problems from each of those areas.
“I feel like when you’re the biggest dude on the court, you got to find ways to get the ball to that type of guy,” said Embiid, listed at 7 feet, 280 pounds. “It’s not rocket science. We just exploit matchups, we share the ball, we move the ball side to side and we try to play together.”
While Embiid might seem a little underwhelmed by Rivers’ contributions to his MVP-caliber season, Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey isn’t.
“Doc has done an amazing job with (Embiid and Harris),” Morey said.