Tyrese Maxey Torches Toronto Raptors for Career-High
After a red-hot preseason, Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey got off to a slightly inconsistent start to the regular season. This week, the young guard is beginning to hit his stride.
After an eight-point outing against the Indiana Pacers on Monday night, Maxey registered his season-high two nights later against the Toronto Raptors.
In a game where the Sixers came up short to the Raptors, Maxey’s performance was one of the very few positive takeaways for the Sixers. In 43 minutes of action, Maxey drained 57 percent of his shots from the field and knocked down eight threes.
The young guard wrapped up the night with 31 points. After the game, Maxey made it clear he was simply taking what Toronto’s defense was giving him.
“I just kind of let the game come to me, honestly,” said Maxey. “I just try to go out there and help us win in all facets of the game. Shoot the ball when I’m supposed to shoot, pass the ball when I’m supposed to pass, and that’s really it. We’re all still trying to figure it out. We got maybe three or four new rotation guys. Once we figure it out, it’s gonna be great.”
Going into Friday night’s rematch against the Raptors, the Sixers were shorthanded. After the team added its All-Star center Joel Embiid to the injury report as he’s dealing with knee soreness, Embiid was ruled out for the night after initially being listed as questionable.
Without Embiid in the lineup, Tyrese Maxey put Philadelphia’s offense on his back. While the team found success from the field early on, it was Maxey who dominated on the offensive end.
In the first quarter of action on Friday, Maxey checked in for nine minutes. The young guard was perfect from the field as he knocked down all five of his shot attempts, with four of them coming from beyond the arc.
The young guard didn’t slow down in the second quarter. Checking in for the majority of the quarter, Maxey launched another five shots from the field. He couldn’t miss in the first half, as Maxey was perfect from the field while tacking on another 13 points. Going into the third quarter, Maxey had 27 points, which marked his career-high in scoring for one half.
Maxey came back down to earth at the start of the second half. As the Sixers wanted to continue riding with the hot hand in the second half, Maxey picked up another nine minutes of action in the third quarter. Maxey put up five more shots from the field, knocking down just one of his shots.
After a slower third quarter, Maxey would heat up from the field once again as the Sixers looked to close out the Friday night matchup with their second win of the season. Maxey entered the fourth quarter with 31 points. He put up another 13 points in the final 12 minutes to help the Sixers snag another victory.
Maxey finished the night by knocking down 15 of his 20 shots from the field and hitting on 83 percent of his free throws. The young guard lit it up from beyond the arc by draining nine of his 12 threes. With that performance, Maxey exceeded his previous career-high of 39 points with a 44-point outing as the Sixers cruised past the Raptors with a 112-90 victory.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
