Tyrese Maxey Opens Up on 76ers’ Struggles After Knicks Loss

Tyrese Maxey and the Philadelphia 76ers continue to navigate through tough times.

Jan 15, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) controls the ball against the New York Knicks during the third quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

On Wednesday night, the Philadelphia 76ers dropped another game on a national broadcast. Tyrese Maxey and the Sixers avoided an embarrassing outcome as they were shorthanded against the New York Knicks, but they ended up with a familiar result, taking another loss, which occurred in overtime.

For Philly, that’s four in a row—and 24 on the season. Nearly halfway through the season, the Sixers have won just 38 percent of their games.

“It’s definitely hard,” Tyrese Maxey told reporters regarding the team’s struggles. “It’s definitely difficult.”

Tyrese Maxey on the mental/emotional drain of this season:

"It's definitely hard. It's definitely difficult. Like you said, I've won at every level all my career, so I think it got it to me early. Like early in the season...Now, I don't feel, like, pressure or anything. I just… pic.twitter.com/kybih84r1G

— On Pattison (@OnPattison) January 16, 2025

All season long, the Sixers battled with injuries across the roster. As a result, they’ve struggled to find consistency and chemistry on the court.

Maxey found himself dealing with health concerns just seven games into the season. In the November 6 matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers, he suffered a hamstring injury. Maxey would miss six games in a row as he recovered.

By the time Maxey returned to the court on November 20, the Sixers held a record of 2-11.

Last season, the Sixers struggled mightily in the absence of the seven-time All-Star Joel Embiid. The 2024-2025 run hasn’t been any different. Unfortunately, Embiid has dealt with several setbacks throughout the year. At this point, he has just 13 games played, leaving a lot on the plates of Maxey, Paul George, and the rest of the team that entered the season with championship goals.

Jan 15, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) drives against New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges (25) during the third quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

“I just feel like I want to go out there and compete every single night, and I want guys to, whoever’s out there, take the opportunity and don’t take it for granted because it does not always come around like that in the NBA, not the whole team like six or seven guys out and that’s not on every team,” Maxey added.

Having a handful of players dealing with setbacks beyond Joel Embiid, the Sixers have had to rely on the deep reserves to play an important role. Maxey specifically mentioned the rookie Justin Edwards, crediting the two-way player for taking advantage of the opportunity he was recently issued.

While the ultimate results aren’t ideal, and the situation is admittedly difficult for the one-time All-Star guard who wants to deliver wins, Maxey can at least see some light in what’s become a dark stretch for the Sixers.

“If we didn’t have guys out, six guys, seven guys out, we don’t know what Justin [Edwards] would be doing,” Maxey added. “Just every single night when guys take advantage of the opportunity, at the end of the day, it’s fun, man, we’re playing the game that we love, the game that we asked to play, the game that we work our tails off to play every single day.”

Holding a 15-24 record, the Sixers are outside of the NBA Play-In Tournament, sitting 11th in the Eastern Conference. They have just three wins over their last 10 games.

While they hope help is on the way, the team can’t be so sure. Key role players such as Andre Drummond, Caleb Martin, and Kyle Lowry continue to deal with setbacks. Even Maxey and George have minor concerns they had to battle through against New York after missing a matchup.

As far as Embiid goes, the Sixers still consider the big man to be on a day-to-day timeline due to a foot sprain. After missing Wednesday’s action, he was out for the sixth game in a row. The Sixers will get the next two days off before hitting the road to face the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.

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