Forget the referees and their missed calls.
Former NBA star and Philadelphia native Rasheed Wallace had someone else in the crosshairs while trying to explain why the 76ers are in a 2-0 series hole against the Knicks entering Thursday’s Game 3: $180 million man Tobias Harris.
“I can’t really blame Buddy [Hield], though. He just got here. I can motherf—king blame Tobias with his s–t though,” Wallace said on “Sheed & Tyler.”
“If you listening, we mad with you too, dog. You gotta step that s–t the f—k up. Yo, you getting all that bread. We need more than 5-for-12 (sic) for 10 points. We need more than that from him.”
Warning: Graphic language
Harris is being paid $39.3 million this season and is supposed to be one of the 76ers’ core players, but he has largely been invisible offensively against the Knicks.
One of the 76ers’ problems has been a lack of production from anyone not named Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, and Harris is a large part of that problem.
Harris tallied just seven points on 3-for-7 shooting in Game 1, and then tallied 10 points on 4-for-11 shooting in the stunning Game 2 loss.
He’s averaging a measly 8.5 points, less than half of his season average of 17.2.
To his credit, Harris has grabbed nine rebounds in each game.
Wallace, who played for the Knicks in his final season in 2012-13, said Harris needs to find other ways to affect the game if his shot isn’t falling.
“Here’s the whole key how you step up — it’s not a matter of, ‘OK, I had a bad shooting game tonight, so now I gotta go out here tonight, Game 2, and prove that I can shoot,’ and now you might shoot horrendous again,” Wallace said.
“You gotta make that difference within the game. You can be a little extra greedy because what’s happening, all they doing is switching. Mitch [Robinson] is a good defender, he’s a good shot-blocker, but at times when he comes out, other than that, they ain’t go no shot-blocker in there like when Embiid go to the bench, we ain’t got no shot-blockers in there.
“You gotta go at it, dog. You gotta go at it hard. Just come with that, as we said, that young boy energy, that full energy.”
