Nick Nurse singles out Tobias Harris after Sixers beat Knicks in Game 5

NEW YORK — The Philadelphia 76ers received one phenomenal performance out of Tyrese Maxey as he came alive for a career playoff-high 46 points, but the Sixers got some big plays out of Tobias Harris down the stretch to earn a 112-106 overtime win over the New York Knicks in Game 5.

Harris pumped in 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting and knocked down three triples to help the Sixers get the job done. Obviously, Maxey was the hero on Tuesday and he is going to get all the headlines and the flowers, but Harris was terrific.

“He was really good,” said coach Nick Nurse. “I thought he made the shot of the night to be honest with you. We were down five and spinning out of control and he came down and made a super tough, 17-foot turnaround to cut it back to three after the momentum, the place was going crazy, and that to me was the second-best shot of the night.”

Nurse isn’t wrong about Harris. The Knicks went up 82-77 on an OG Anunoby jumper with 5:45 left and Madison Square Garden was going crazy. Harris calmly hit a 17-footer and Philadelphia really needed it.

When Harris is going like he was on Tuesday, he changes things.

“It’s huge,” Joel Embiid added. “When Tobias plays well, I think we have a high chance to win any game. Like I’ve been saying all season long, for us to win, we have to be perfect. Everybody has to somehow play well and we all have to play well at the same time.”

As the Sixers head back to Philadelphia down 3-2, they will need more from Harris. He is going to be the big X-Factor for this group. If he plays well, Philadelphia will have a great chance to get it done.

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