Harris powers short-handed Sixers past Knicks

Tobias Harris scored 34 points to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists to lift the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers past the visiting New York Knicks 115-106 on Thursday. Al Horford had 15 points, nine assists and seven boards, and Shake Milton scored 19 points as the Sixers moved to a league-best 28-2 at home. Milton hit all five of his 3-point attempts, while Horford hit all four.

Josh Richardson and Furkan Korkmaz had 11 each for the Sixers, who played without injured All-Stars Joel Embiid (shoulder) and Ben Simmons (back). The Sixers swept the four-game season series from the Knicks.

Julius Randle paced the Knicks with 30 points and 10 rebounds, while Maurice Harkless scored 17 points, RJ Barrett added 15 and Elfrid Payton had 18 points and 12 assists. The Knicks have lost six in a row. Harris was aggressive throughout the first half and drove to the basket for a 55-37 Sixers lead with 2:55 remaining.

The Sixers led by as many as 20 and pulled ahead 61-46 heading into the locker room. Harris led the way with 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting. Randle's 15 for the Knicks kept the game from being a complete rout by halftime.

The Knicks closed within 68-57 when Randle scored in the paint with 8:43 left in the third. After an empty Sixers possession, Harkless dropped in a 3-pointer to close within eight. A few minutes later, Harkless knocked down three straight treys, and the New York deficit was just four, 76-72, with 5:16 remaining in the quarter.

On the Sixers' next trip, Horford hit a 3-pointer to quickly push the lead back to seven. Richardson appeared to make a trey at the third-quarter buzzer to give Philadelphia a 90-79 advantage. But the officials ruled that the ball wasn't completely out of Richardson's hand in time, so the shot was nullified and the Sixers lead was kept at eight.

Horford hit a pair of treys early in the fourth for a 100-85 Sixers advantage with 8:32 to go. But the Knicks battled within 107-102 with 2:08 left after Randle hit 1 of 2 free throws.

Harris responded with a clutch 3-pointer, and the lead moved back to eight. --Field Level Media

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)