Tobias Harris entered the NBA as a teenager in a different era.
A few years back, he recalled that head coaches early in his career like Scott Skiles and Stan Van Gundy ran two-a-day training camp practices. “Load management” wasn’t on the radar.
Now nearly 30 years old, Harris was struck by the intensity of the Sixers’ practices leading into their playoff-opening win Saturday night over the Raptors.
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“We had four days. Two of the days we were pretty much at the point where we wanted to kill each other,” Harris said with a laugh after a 26-point, six-assist effort. “We were fighting in the group text after practice, so it was one of those things. But it was competitive, and we needed that, right?
“It was the first time since pretty much training camp, with the way this season’s been, that we were able to put that type of work in. It was just two teams really pushing each other … and tonight we came out and took all that energy out on them. That’s what we have to do for Game 2 and the games going forward.”
Harris’ recollection of the week’s practices essentially matched his teammates’ words, even if he did not touch on a nugget of Joel Embiid trash talk that seeped into the five-time All-Star’s media session Thursday. Embiid said he was “locking (Harris’) ass up. And I was talking to him. I was letting him know and he was getting mad.”
Whatever went down behind closed doors, the Sixers set a strong tone by beating the Raptors at their own game. Against an opponent known for gaining a significant possession edge through imposing its preferred style, the Sixers scored the night’s first nine fast-break points and built a big rebounding advantage early.
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“We knew that’s the type of team that they are — scrappy, tall team that has a lot of wings that can go get rebounds," Harris said. “We’ve been drilling it all day at practice. And when we got out there today, that was our emphasis from early in the game. We had to match their physicality and even be more physical than them.”
Tyrese Maxey was great in every conceivable way Saturday, posting 38 points on 14-for-21 shooting. The only higher-scoring game of Maxey’s brief NBA career was a 39-point performance last year when the Sixers were hit by COVID-19 and used just seven players against the Nuggets.
Maxey’s persistent improvement in his second professional season is remarkable, although the Kentucky product has always been a sound decision-maker. His 7.3 turnover percentage this year ranked in the 93rd percentile for combo guards, per Cleaning the Glass. But that stereotypical, coach’s son knack for being safe with the ball has never bled into visible concern about what might go wrong.
“He just doesn’t play with anxiety,” Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said. “That’s why you love him. There’s certain players like that; there’s not a lot that ruffles them.”
Neither Maxey nor Embiid committed a turnover. No one on the Sixers did for the entire first half.
Counting the postseason, Embiid’s only other zero-turnover outing against the Raptors was Game 1 of the Sixers' 2019 playoff series vs. Toronto. Coming off of his best passing season, he looks and sounds better equipped to handle double teams.
“I'm healthier (than in 2019), that’s first of all,” Embiid said. “I’m more mature in a way where there’s not a lot of things that can frustrate me. In the past, I used to get really frustrated by double teams. Nowadays, it’s like, ‘If that’s what you want to do, I’m going to find other ways to make sure I make the right plays offensively.’ I think I’ve gotten better over the years offensively, too. My game when we played them was much different than it is today.”
Again and again, Embiid has insisted he’s not surprised by Maxey’s leap because of how hard the 21-year-old works. James Harden was caught slightly off guard at first, though. At the 10-time All-Star’s first Sixers practice in February, Rivers mentioned Harden was “blown away” by two Maxey dunks.
Practice doesn’t necessarily mean much in a league of performers who know exactly how to flip a switch when the spotlight goes on. In-season, intra-squad, full-court action is a rarity. Pacing responsibly through the season and preserving health for the playoffs are priorities.
Some tension and trash talk in preparing for Game 1 turned out just fine for the Sixers, though.
And anyone you ask about Maxey will highlight his time at the team's practice facility in Camden, New Jersey, well before 20,000 or so fans fill Wells Fargo Center.
“Tyrese is great, man,” Harden said. “He has game and he works his butt off. I try to help him when I need to. He listens. We’ve got great coaches, we’ve got other great leaders, and he gets it, man. He understands it. He puts the work in, and great things will happen for you. And tonight was a testament to that. I don’t really need to tell him too much.”