It was a game until Tobias Harris decided it wasn’t.
The veteran forward scored 11 straight points, drawing a louder cheer inside Little Caesars Arena with each bucket. A wing 3-pointer, followed by a drive, a finish through contact and a free throw brought the Detroit Pistons’ reserves to their feet late in the second quarter on Sunday, May 3, with a 51-45 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.
The onslaught continued – a midrange jumper over Jalen Suggs in which Harris regained control of the ball after Suggs batted it out of his hands, followed by another 3-pointer. In all, Harris sparked a 31-8 Pistons run to nail down a 116-94 Game 7 win for the Pistons over the Orlando Magic. It came with his best performance of a strong seven-game showing, as he finished with 30 points (on 11-for-18 shooting), nine rebounds and three steals.
Harris, 33, is etching his name into franchise lore, 10 years after he initially arrived in Detroit. His seven-game run vs. the Magic solidified his place as a critical piece of the most successful Pistons team since the “Goin’ To Work” era. With Sunday’s win – capping the 15th comeback from a 3-1 series deficit in NBA history – they made the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time since 2008.
When asked about Harris’ impact, coach J.B. Bickerstaff didn’t mince words.
“Nobody can say [expletive] to me about Tobias Harris,” he said. “He is dependable, reliable, prepared for the moment, He’s a leader, he’s a great teammate, he’s a great human being, he’s a high-level competitor.
“To show up tonight and do what he did when it was on the line the most, it’s exceptional, and I can come up with more adjectives if you want, but I think you get the drift.”
The first run in Detroit
After nearly six seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, Harris signed a two-year, $52 million contract with the Pistons during the 2024 offseason. But that was the start of his second stint in Detroit; he first arrived in the Motor City in February 2016, in a trade with the Magic that sent out Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova.
The then-23 year old hit his stride immediately, averaging 16.6 points and 6.2 rebounds through the final 27 games that season. Playing alongside Andre Drummond, Reggie Jackson and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, he and the Pistons made the playoffs for the first time since 2009 – only for it to end in a 4-0 sweep by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“When I played here before, it’s like, we were a good team, but not with this type of potential,” Harris told the Free Press on Sunday. “Just to be a part of it is great and to be able to walk along the path of the ups and downs of it, going down 3-1 and coming back, just shows the resilience of the group and the team.”
That initial run proved Harris was a three-level scorer and a full-time starter. He played one more full season with the franchise, then was sent to the Los Angeles Clippers in January 2018 in the blockbuster deal for Blake Griffin. A year later he was traded to the Sixers, where he signed a five-year, $180 million max extension in 2019.
He started 378 regular season games and 51 playoff games in Philadelphia, where he was a consequential piece of a contending squad led by Joel Embiid. Harris posted good numbers – 17.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists on 48.8% overall shooting (and 36.7% from 3). He also drew ire from fans, largely because of his paycheck.
In his return to Detroit, it was different: Harris was the big splash of president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon’s first free agency – a seasoned forward to solidify the starting rotation and provide veteran leadership for a young team coming off a franchise-worst 14 wins. Hardened from his time in Philadelphia, he quickly melded with his old – and now new – team.
During his first stint, Harris was a young player looking to prove himself. Now, he’s affectionately known to his much-younger teammates as “Unc.”
He has started every game and been a stabilizer, on and off the floor, for a team making quantum leaps since he signed. From 14 wins to 44 last season; from 44 to 60 this season.
“I think that my experience from being in different situations and being here now has led to me becoming a better leader and being able to really talk to these guys,” Harris said. “I understand both sides of the game – the mental side of it, the physical side of it as well. So really just being able to spread that knowledge.
“But at the same time, being in a comfortable position internally and externally of not worrying about what one has to say, just helping myself and just honing into the group and being the best that I can be on a daily basis will be the biggest growth. And just really having fun with basketball. To be in a good setting and a great environment with great guys, I genuinely am happy being around all these guys on a daily basis, and I think that’s the greatest satisfaction for this.”
Harris raised his level of play in the first round, scoring at least 20 points in each of the final five games against the Magic and emerging as the second scorer, alongside Cade Cunningham. It was capped by Harris’ dagger with 8:17 left in Sunday’s fourth quarter – he knocked down a 3-pointer – one of his five in the game – to give the Pistons their biggest lead of the night, 96-71.
The future is uncertain for the pending unrestricted free agent, but he delivered the finest performance of his second Pistons tenure to keep their championship hopes alive – and drew the praise of his teammates.
“Just his professionalism throughout the season, but especially in the playoffs, he’s raised his level of play,” Cunningham said. “On the court, off the court, his IQ about the game and things that he’s seeing and how we can be better and stuff, all of that stuff means a lot to us. That’s what he is, he’s a pro’s pro.
“We’re lucky to have him. He was huge this game and a huge reason why we won this game the way we did, because he set the tone early.”
Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on X and/or Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tobias Harris etching his name into Pistons lore with playoff blaze
Reporting by Omari Sankofa II, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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