The Philadelphia 76ers entered their Friday night matchup against the New York Knicks shorthanded. During the second half of the matchup, they went down another starter as the team ruled out Tobias Harris after the third quarter concluded.
According to a team official, Harris was dealing with ankle soreness. The team will move forward without their starting forward as they look to form a comeback against the Knicks.
Harris checked in for 24 minutes on Friday night. He struggled from the field, converting on just two of his six attempts from the field. When he left the game, he had produced just five points in the scoring department. He also had three rebounds and four assists.
Harris’s struggles against the Knicks on Friday was just one of many concerns for the 76ers throughout the first three-quarters of action.
On New York’s side, they dominated in the three-point shooting department, hitting on 47 percent of their threes on 30 attempts. Meanwhile, the Sixers entered the fourth quarter averaging just 33 percent from deep on much lower volume.
In addition to losing the three-point battle, the Sixers also turned the ball over 12 times through three quarters, a few more times than New York. Before heading into the fourth quarter, the Sixers trailed 93-76.
Along with Harris, the Sixers missed their starting guard, De’Anthony Melton, on Friday night. When the Sixers hosted the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday, Melton was ruled out with a back injury. By missing Friday’s game as well, Melton missed consecutive matchups for the first time this year.
The Sixers also rolled without two reserves in Furkan Korkmaz and Robert Covington. For the second-straight game, Korkmaz was ruled out with an illness, while Covington’s knee effusion caused him to get downgraded to out again.
While Harris’s setback doesn’t seem severe at this time, the team will hold him out for the remainder of Friday’s game. His status for Saturday night’s matchup against the Utah Jazz is currently unknown.
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