Philadelphia 76ers: Tobias Harris proves he could be the key to a championship

Tobias Harris might be the most important player for the Philadelphia 76ers in the playoffs. 

The Philadelphia 76ers have two of the best stars in the league. When they’re playing at a high level, there aren’t many duos in the league that are better on both ends of the floor than Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. This team becomes special with their third “star,” Tobias Harris, plays at an elite level.

And a big reason why the Sixers finished the regular season as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference was the consistent play of Harris. Coming off a season in which he had his most efficient shooting performance of his career to date, Harris picked up where he left off in the regular season and helped push the Sixers over the top in Game 1 of their first-round matchup against the Washington Wizards.

Tobias Harris helps make the Philadelphia 76ers’ unstoppable

In the Sixers’ Game 1 win over the pesky Wizards, it was Harris once again who helped Philadelphia emerge victoriously. In Game 1, Harris finished with 37 points and six rebounds on 52 percent shooting from the field.

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In a too-close-for-comfort Game 1, Harris helped the team eventually pull away from the Wizards and gave this team a formula to win a championship. In a game where Simmons was off his offensive game – he finished with just six points on 3-9 shooting – Harris more than picked up the slack offensively.

In fairness, Simmons did finish with 15 rebounds and 15 assists. However, the void that was left by Simmons in the scoring department was more than picked up by Harris. And that, more than anything, is how this team will be successful.

This is how the Sixers can win a championship this season. Harris simply doesn’t need to be a threat; he has to perform like a star. When Philadelphia essentially elected to pay Harris over Jimmy Butler, this is exactly what they envisioned.

Even though many will look at the Game 1 result from the Sixers and Wizards and possibly conclude that Philly might not be fit as an Eastern Conference contender; why would a game between the 1-8 series be that close?

It should be noted that the Sixers aren’t your generic 8th seed. This is a team that has two all-star talents and a solid supporting cast. The Sixers will be tested in this first-round playoff series and they passed the Game 1 test, even with Simmons playing a subpar game in terms of scoring.

If Harris can continue to play at this level throughout the playoffs, there’s no question that the Sixers will be the championship contender that many were hoping this team would be during the regular season.

They have the personnel to match up with the likes of the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks, and whoever would come out of the Western Conference. But one game, one performance, and one win at a time.

So far, so good for the Sixers. Want an indication of how well the Sixers are clicking in the postseason, just look at Harris’ performance. He’s going to be a key for this team in the playoffs and might be the most important fact to a potential run to the NBA Finals.