What’s Doc Rivers’ Plan to Get Tyrese Maxey Back on Track?

Ever since James Harden went down with a tendon strain, Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey has noticeably struggled. Prior to Harden’s injury, Maxey was Philadelphia’s most consistent scorer, as he appeared in all nine games while averaging 24 points and shooting 47 percent from deep.

From the first game without Harden sharing the court with Maxey up until Thursday night’s game in Atlanta, Maxey’s averaged 19 points while draining just 26 percent of his threes. Maxey’s assist numbers are up as he takes on more of a playmaker role in Harden’s absence, but it’s clear he hasn’t been the same player through this three-game stretch.

In Atlanta on Thursday night, Maxey checked in for 33 minutes. The third-year guard chucked up 17 shots from the field, draining less than 30 percent of his field goals. He finished the game with just 15 points, as the Sixers fell short for the second-straight time this week.

Following Thursday night’s Sixers loss to the Hawks, 76ers head coach Doc Rivers again pointed out Maxey’s struggles, acknowledging that the young guard must be better.

“We struggle in life. We do — we all do. He’s going to as well,” said Rivers. “He’s had three games in a row now, and he’s gotta figure it out, and we have to help him, and we’ll do that.”

How will Doc Rivers and the Sixers help Maxey?

“Just showing him film,” said the head coach. “Keeping him confident.”

Throughout his young career, Maxey has proven to be one of the hardest workers on the Sixers. Therefore, the young guard’s confidence tends to stay high even through hard times. Typically, when young players struggle on the offensive end, they become gun-shy.

In Rivers’ eyes, that hasn’t happened with Maxey.

“The one thing he has shown is he’ll still shoot the ball,” Rivers continued. “We just got to go back to taking the right shots. I thought he took a lot of tough ones tonight.”

It’s apparent Maxey has gone away from taking what the defense gives him, causing the young guard to force opportunities to score by attempting low-percentage shots. With a day off between Thursday’s loss and Saturday’s rematch against the Hawks, Doc Rivers hopes a film session will help Maxey realize where his mistakes are so he can correct them this weekend.

“We just got to get him back to taking the right shots, being aggressive, and letting the game come to you,” Rivers finished. “I thought, as a team, each shot missed meant each pass not passed the next play. I thought that happened a lot tonight.”

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.