The Philadelphia 76ers are not going home just yet. After clawing their way back from a double-digit halftime deficit and scoring a 105-104 win at home on Wednesday against the Miami Heat, the Sixers are headed to the 2024 NBA Playoffs proper for a first-round date versus the New York Knicks.
The 76ers, however, didn’t seem to need veteran forward Tobias Harris in the final minutes of the Heat game. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse decided to pull Harris and insert Kelly Oubre Jr. with just a little over four minutes remaining in regulation.
Philadelphia 76ers’ Nick Nurse Explains Decision to Sit Tobias Harris
After the game, Nurse explained the reasoning behind the benching of Harris for Oubre late in the crucial matchup.
“I thought Tobias was playing fine,” Nurse said after the win. “I thought he played a ton of minutes. I thought he was absolutely tired. That was the only reason why I made that switch and I made the switch back to Kyle (Lowry) with Buddy (Hield). I thought Buddy was playing great and gave us a spark, too, but I thought it was that time in the game where Kyle will usually make a play or two and he did.”
Oubre didn’t make Nurse look bad, though, as he reciprocated his coach’s trust in him by scoring five minutes the rest of the way alongside fellow closers Joel Embiid, Kyle Lowry, Tyrese Maxey, and Nic Batum. Overall, Oubre had 11 points, eight rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block.. As for Harris, he made just nine points on 4/10 shooting from the field. He will have to be better for the Sixers versus the Knicks.
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