PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — After Tobias Harris scored his 27th and 28th points of a 30-point night on Tuesday, rallying by the Knicks 99-96, he turned to the crowd at the Wells Fargo Center and shouted what many people already knew: “I’m an All-Star.”
“That’s for sure what I said,” he confirmed after the game. “For me, that’s just reaffirming that to myself. I know the fans know that, but reaffirming that to them and to myself, especially making those big plays.”
Harris was key in erasing a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit to the up-and-coming Knicks, scoring eight points in the final 4:22 — and eight of the Sixers’ final nine points.
In addition, Harris guarded Knicks All-Star Julius Randle for much of the night, and Randle was held to only 19 points. Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said that was the key to the game because it allowed the 76ers to stick Randle one-on-one a lot of the time.
Many people believe Harris deserved his first NBA All-Star nod. This is arguably the best season of the 28-year-old’s 10-year NBA career. The 76ers have led the Eastern Conference for most of the season, so having three All-Stars would have been completely appropriate, given the variety of qualified candidates for only so many spots.
However, Harris wasn’t selected for the March 7 game by the fan/media/player vote and, more notably, by the Eastern Conference coaches vote, which decides the reserves.
“Everyone’s deserving who was on it,” said Rivers, who wasn’t allowed to vote for Harris, “but Tobias is one as well. I think Tobias wants to win more, but I still think he thinks he should’ve been on the All-Star team, and I agree with that.”
Harris didn’t address his snub until the Sixers’ second game after the All-Star break, where he admitted he was upset, but added if Philadelphia fans understand he’s an All-Star, then that’s enough for him.
“When me and Doc talk about it, I just told him, ‘Look, I got a bounty out for all the coaches that didn’t vote for me, all the national media that skipped over me.’ It is what it is, but me and Doc both discuss is you make your name known in the playoffs and leading this team and being solid in what you do day in and day out, and that was my mentality.”
Harris emphasized his main focus is “to win. That’s it. (Not making the All-Star team) happened and it’s past and it’s gone. It is what it is and you just move on to the next goal, and really the same goal.”
And that goal includes maintaining first place in the Eastern Conference headed into the NBA Playoffs so the Sixers can have home-court advantage.