Tobias Harris’ Role Will Expand With James Harden Out

With James Harden injured, the 76ers will need Tobias Harris to step up.

The Philadelphia 76ers took a significant hit during their matchup against the Washington Wizards. In the first half of the game, Sixers star James Harden suffered an apparent lower-body injury. Although Harden was clearly in a lot of pain, he remained in the game.

In the second half, Harden had another incident that appeared to be a moment he might’ve injured himself. Yet, he continued to play through the pain. In the end, Harden wrapped up Wednesday’s game by serving a 35-minute shift. After the loss to the Wizards, Doc Rivers was unsure about Harden’s status.

"I know he went out, I think it was the second half something happened," said Rivers. "There was a stretch we were waiting for him to come back into the game, and he was in the locker room. I don't ever check what, I just know he wasn't there to come back in. I don't know if something happened in the second half or if it was a continuation of something that happened with him in the first half." 

Harden was visibly in pain after the game, but the team held off on offering any injury-related updates until he underwent testing. Unfortunately, the Sixers received unfavorable results from the medical staff. Harden suffered a tendon strain in his right foot. Now, he’s expected to miss a month’s worth of time, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

With Harden out, that opens the door for others to step up and garner more significant roles. Clearly, a lot will ride on the MVP runner-up Joel Embiid to take over at times. Also, the rising star Tyrese Maxey will have to maintain his high level of play without Harden sharing the court with him.

Now is also the time for the Sixers’ veteran forward, Tobias Harris, to step up and play more of a role on the offensive end. Ironically enough, Doc Rivers mentioned he would like to feature Harris more on the offensive end before the Sixers got word about Harden’s injury timeline. 

“He obviously has to get used to the most on our team to not touching the ball as much as he has in the past,” Rivers said regarding Harris. “I really think he’s trying to do that. He’s catching and shooting pretty well. We still want to feature him on the post when he has a matchup. I thought we got a little bit out of that in the first half [on Wednesday]. So, he’s been great.” 

Harris has been the Sixers’ fourth option on the offensive end to start the year. Similar to last season, Doc Rivers preached quick decisions and plenty of catching and shooting for Harris specifically. Through nine games, Harris has averaged 13 points, his lowest scoring average since joining the 76ers. 

While Harris hasn’t been a primary scoring option, he’s played his role perfectly. Taking 5.4 three-point attempts per game, the Sixers sharpshooter has knocked down 45 percent of his threes. 

With Harden out of the mix and Joel Embiid frequently missing time early on, the veteran forward will make the jump to the team’s third and sometimes second scoring option on the offensive end.

In the past, Harris proved to be a reliable second-scoring option for the Sixers in the regular season. Two years ago, when the Sixers snatched the Eastern Conference's first seed, Harris averaged nearly 20 points, coming second to Joel Embiid as the team's scoring leader. Now, he'll need to mirror that production in Harden's absence.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.