Tobias Harris Sensed Some Overconfidence From Sixers vs. Raptors

The Philadelphia 76ers didn't have an ideal regular season against the Toronto Raptors. In four games against their Atlantic Division rival, the Sixers came out

The Philadelphia 76ers didn't have an ideal regular season against the Toronto Raptors. In four games against their Atlantic Division rival, the Sixers came out on top just once.

Therefore, nobody knew what to expect when the Sixers and the Raptors met for a first-round series. As always in the NBA, you should expect the unexpected. While many believed that the Raptors would issue Philadelphia stiff competition in round one, the Sixers made life hard for Toronto to do so to start the series.

In their first two matchups against the Raptors in Philadelphia, the 76ers dominated the Raptors and got off to a 2-0 series lead. While Game 3 in Toronto was close and required overtime, a three-pointer from Joel Embiid in the final seconds of the free period sealed the deal and gave the Sixers a 3-0 lead.

Going into Game 4, the Sixers could've wrapped up the series with a sweep. However, the Raptors came out on top with an eight-point victory. For the second postseason in a row, the Sixers had an opportunity to close out their first-round series in five games, but they came up way short this past Monday night in South Philly.

Just like that, the Sixers went from possessing a 3-0 lead to giving up two-straight games to the Raptors. Tobias Harris, who has been a Sixers X-factor throughout the series, believed his team got away from what works for them in the couple of games they came up short. As the Sixers looked ahead to Game 6, Harris made it clear that his team needed to get back on track by making quick decisions so they could avoid a Game 7 scenario and put the Raptors away in six games.

“We knew what was at stake for us,” Harris said on Thursday night following a dominant win over Toronto. “No disrespect to our fans, but we did not wanna come back to Wells Fargo for Game 7. We wanted to end it tonight."

Just as Harris desired, the Sixers got back to playing the way they did earlier in the series during Game 6. Eventually, they cruised past the Raptors with a 132-97 victory. 

"We wanted to be in our building for Game 3 of the next series," Harris finished. "Maybe we were overconfident, but I just think we had too much slippage of what was working for us, and that was why I thought we lost those other games.”

The Sixers might've offered their fans a bit of a scare in the first round, but that's now all past them. After putting away the Raptors, the 76ers will advance to the second round of the NBA Playoffs, where they'll face the Miami Heat.

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