Sixers' Dwight Howard Took Credit for Settling Tyrese Maxey Down vs. Celtics
For three quarters, Sixers rookie Tyrese Maxey sat on the bench cheering his team on Tuesday night. Being that it was the first of two preseason matchups, Maxey anticipated garnering playing time at some point.
When the fourth quarter rolled around, his name was called. Maxey checked in at the top of the fourth and never checked out. As expected, the Sixers' first-round rookie couldn't contain his excitement. It was evident he was trying to do too much at once.
But fortunately, Maxey has a supportive group of veterans looking out for him. Veteran center Dwight Howard made it clear he's coming to Philly with intending to teach and get the best out of everybody this season.
So far, he's lived up to his word as he got Maxey to calm down and play his game on Tuesday. "When he first came into the game, I thought he was kind of, you know, moving a little bit too fast, and they were pressuring him a lot," Howard said on Thursday after practice.
"When there was a timeout, I pulled him to the side and told him 'slow down. It's okay to be fast, but don't be in a hurry. Don't allow the defense to dictate where they want you to go. You're the ball-handler; you're the point guard. You control everything on the floor. Just slow down and read the game.'"
Sure enough, Maxey took Howard's advice into considering and had himself a solid quarter to close out the matchup against Boston with a victory.
"He went back out there, slowed down, he started making plays, he got a couple of good floaters off -- some good passes," Howard continued. "He got the offense running smoothly. I really like where his head is at, he's very eager to learn. Very disciplined, he's always in the gym. I'm very happy to see the progress that he's had in such a short training camp, but also with having no type of summer league or anything like that."
Maxey only has 12 minutes of playing time to show for, but during that final quarter against the Celtics, the young rookie drained four of his six shots for eight points. His lone performance won't be enough to win a spot in the regular-season rotation just yet, but his progress as of late has stood out enough to make Doc Rivers think twice about possibly leaving him out of the rotation next week and beyond.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_
