Tobias Harris Talks Success Guarding 'Tough Matchup' Siakam

Through their first two playoff games, the Philadelphia 76ers have found success on both sides of the ball against the Toronto Raptors. During their Game 1

Through their first two playoff games, the Philadelphia 76ers have found success on both sides of the ball against the Toronto Raptors. 

During their Game 1 outing, the Sixers came out on top with a dominant 131-111 victory. Two nights later, they wrapped up Game 2 by scoring 112 and holding the Raptors to just 97 points despite Toronto getting off to a hot start.

Several Sixers can take credit for the 2-0 start in the playoffs as everybody has contributed in different ways. Perhaps, one of the most consistent contributors so far is Philly's veteran forward, Tobias Harris.

Offensively, Harris has been heating up. For the last few weeks of the regular season, the veteran was knocking down his shots at a consistent rate. And through two games in the postseason, his efficiency has held up.

In Game 1, Harris knocked down nine of his 14 shots from the field to score 26 points. He followed up that performance by draining seven of his 11 shots for 20 points. While Harris' offense is what stands out the most on the stat sheet, his defensive performances through two games has also been quite impressive.

Success Against Siakam

Guarding Raptors' standout Pascal Siakam is no easy task. As the veteran has proven he could not only create open looks for himself, he's also known to make tough shots with a defender in his face. He's gotten the best of Harris at times, making shots even when the Sixers veteran defended him well, but for the most part, Harris has kept the star big man in check through two games.

"[I'm] just making his looks hard," said Harris on Monday night. "He’s a tough matchup just with his size but I try to use my quickness laterally and my strength to make him make second moves out there."

Siakam's off to a tame start in the series. In Game 1, he scored 24 points in 39 minutes, draining under ten of his 18 shots. In Game 2, Siakam followed up with 20 points in 40 minutes, making roughly 35-percent of his attempts from the field. 

"Just really reading some of the things that he wants to do and make every look that he gets a tough look," Harris added. "They’re playing like that. They run a lot of sets through him. He’s a good player getting downhill as well, so just trying to beat him to the spot and making him take tough twos."

There is still plenty of basketball left to be played, so a lot can change throughout the course of the series as the Sixers and the Raptors head to Toronto for the next two games. While Siakam could make better adjustments for himself ahead of Game 3, so far, Harris has proven he's up for the challenge of guarding the All-Star.

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