Tobias Harris must do the one thing he hasn't done all season

The Orlando Magic had a clear plan against the Detroit Pistons in game one, which was to keep them out of the lane, which they did effectively, outscoring Detroit by 20 points in the paint, which was the difference in the game. 

It led to plenty of wide-open 3-point attempts, seven of them from Tobias Harris, who was only able to hit one on the night. The Pistons aren’t accustomed to needing so many 3-point shots from Harris, who averages half that number of attempts on the season. 

Harris has never been a particularly good 3-point shooter, as he averages just 36 percent for his career, same as his mark for this season. Harris is nothing but consistent. 

But he has to more consistently knock down those looks, as the Magic are giving them to him, especially in the corner, as Harris did little to stop the talk that the Pistons are a one man team. 

Tobias Harris has to hit the corner three 

Harris is also around 36 percent on the season from the corner 3-point shot, like I said, the man is nothing if not consistent. 

But that’s not a good number at all from the corner, as the Pistons have seven players who shoot a better mark than that. For reference, here are some percentages from the Pistons on the corner three, which is the easiest shot in basketball when you are open: 

-Cade Cunningham (38.9%) 

-Caris LeVert (42.5%) 

-Daniss Jenkins (40%) 

-Duncan Robinson (39%) 

-Isaiah Stewart (40%) 

-Javonte Green (50%) 

-Marcus Sasser (60%) 

Every player (except Robinson) shoots markedly better from the corner except Harris, who is pretty much 36-37 percent from any spot beyond the arc.

Tobias Harris doesn’t make a lot of sense 

The problem is that Harris gets the second most attempts on the team from the corner, so it’s important that he consistently knocks them down, especially if he’s going to shoot seven of them in a game. 

It makes little sense given how good a shooter Harris is, but for whatever reason, he can’t seem to get it going consistently from the corner. 

I’d far rather see Harris attack the rim on some of these, as he was 6-of-7 from the line last night and was more effective when he was aggressive on the close outs. 

The Magic were perfectly happy to let the Pistons take 3-point shots, and you can see why after they knocked down just 31 percent of them. 

If guys like Harris and Jenkins aren’t hitting 3’s, then they have to attack, as they were at least drawing fouls on some of their takes, but continuing to shoot and miss 3’s is playing right into Orlando’s hands. 

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