Tobias Harris got the last laugh.
The most hated man in Philadelphia on Wednesday night, Harris and the Pistons came into their game against the 76ers in search of their first win of the season. With each touch, the fans at the Wells Fargo Center booed. And booed. And booed some more.
Harris, who has gotten off to a frigid start in his second go around with Detroit, continued that trend early as he missed four of his first five shots. The vibes, as the kids say, were off.
Until they weren’t.
Harris slowly found his rhythm, finishing with 18 points and 15 rebounds, as the Pistons overcame some early sloppiness to topple the undermanned 76ers 105-95 for their first win of the season.
Sure, Philadelphia was down Joel Embiid and Paul George, but the Pistons needed a win any way they could get it. Harris’ play was a big part of that, but so was the play of Detroit’s backcourt.
Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey were both on their game. Cunningham was hot early, scoring 14 of his 22 points in the first half to go with five rebounds and seven assists. He hit four threes, but also turned it over five times. That problem still needs to be taken care of.
Ivey, who sometimes looks so stoic and emotionless out there, was fired up. He had two big dunks to end the first half and matched Cunningham’s production with 23 points. Even the “old” guys, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Malik Beasley, played a big part with 9 combined threes.
The situation with he bigs was weird. Jalen Duren fouled out in 11 minutes, failing to bring the right kind of physicality to the floor against Andre Drummond. Isaiah Stewart, however, was more than willing to go to war.
He came in off the bench and gave Detroit and immediate spark. Stew finished with 11 rebounds and three blocks. I wish JB Bickerstaff had him in position to shoot a few threes, but this was a great night for Isaiah in a game where Duren had nothing to offer.
Before I go, I wanna loop back to Tobi. As nice as it was to see him put up a big game in his return to Philly, there are still concerns.
I’ve been mostlyyyyy unworried as it’s been four games, but tonight’s process wasn’t my favorite. The diet of shots — mid-range, backdown pull-up jumpers — was awful, and he missed all of his threes.
He did overcome a 1-for-5 start to finish 8 of 18 from the field.
Harris made shots when he was open inside the arc, and that’s what Detroit needs from him. Some threes would be nice, too. I just don’t think we can expect him to be a guy who’ll go out and get his own shot most nights. The best version of Tobias for this team is probably one who makes moves off the ball and hits those open jumpers.
If he plays like tonight, it’ll be alright. Especially if the Pistons can play together and win.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments!