Here's What Tyrese Maxey Said After Scoring 38 Points Against Toronto In Game 1
After trading Ben Simmons for James Harden at the trade deadline, there is an enormous amount of pressure on the Philadelphia 76ers to not only win their first-round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors, but go deep into the postseason and potentially win a championship.
The 76ers handled things pretty well on Saturday against the Toronto Raptors and if there was anyone in Wells Fargo Arena that was not feeling any sense of pressure in this game, it was Tyrese Maxey.
Time-and-time again this season, Tyrese Maxey has stepped up in big moments for the 76ers next to their two All-Stars in Joel Embiid and James Harden.
Their first playoff game of 2022 was no exception, as Maxey tallied a playoff career-high 38 points on 14-21 shooting, 5-8 from three-point range. He also finished with 4 rebounds, 2 assists and went 5-5 from the free-throw line in the win.
“It’s a testimony to the work,” Maxey said right after the game in response to his performance. “I always tell people the work that you put in when nobody else is around, early mornings, 6 a.m., late nights, it shows when you perform in front of thousands.”
Tyrese Maxey is just in his second NBA season, but the young guard has worked vigorously to not only improve his game, but prove that he is the final piece to the Philadelphia 76ers’ championship puzzle.
A few weeks back, Sixers’ head coach Doc Rivers talked about his young guard’s work ethic, stating that Maxey never wants to leave the gym when the team has blackout days and forces players to take a break from practicing so they do not get burned out. Rivers even said that they have had to lock the gym because of him, calling it the “Tyrese Rule.”
“We just have to go out here and fight, it is going to be a fight every single night,” Maxey went on to say. “That’s one down, job’s not done… I just go out here and try to do my best to help us win, I mean I do not get into all the shenanigans. I show up every day and do my job, that’s what I tell my teammates.”
With his 38-point performance on Saturday, Tyrese Maxey became the first 76ers’ player with the most points in their first postseason game since Allen Iverson and he also joined LeBron James (three times) and Magic Johnson (once) as the only players in NBA playoff history to score at least 38 points at 22 years, 163 days or younger, per team release.
Winning Game 1, the Philadelphia 76ers hold a 1-0 series lead over the Toronto Raptors and will host the Raptors again on Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET. on TNT.
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