Joe Harris Exacts a Measure of Revenge Against Philly
Once upon a playoff, the Nets played the Philadelphia 76ers. After winning the opening game, the Nets lost four straight and were eliminated from the 2018-2019 playoffs. In five games, Joe Harris averaged 8.8 points with 4.4 rebounds in 29.8 minutes. Overall, he was 16/43 (27%) from the floor and just 4/21 (19%) from the arc. Said another way, the Sixers erased Joe Harris from the equation.
Last year, in four regular-season games against the Sixers, Joe Harris averaged 11.5 points in 29.5 minutes on 4/9 from the field and just 1.5/4 from the arc.
On Thursday, the Nets defeated the Sixers by a margin of thirteen at Barclays Center. Playing minus Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving (as was the case in the playoffs two seasons ago), the Nets on this night outrebounded the Sixers and did a better job with distribution. They also benefited from twenty Philly turnovers.
Undermanned, Coach Nash started Caris LeVert, but once again had Joe Harris come off the bench. Harris played 30 minutes, second to Caris LeVert. Philly entered the game with the league's best record. Led by Harris, the Nets handed the Sixers only their second defeat of the season. Joe Harris scored a game-high 28 points on 11/19 from the floor and 6/9 from three.
Through nine games and seven starts, Joe Harris is so far averaging a career-high fifteen points per game. Despite the small sample size, his performance against Philadelphia is a big deal.
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