76ers' Tyrese Maxey Appreciates PJ Tucker's Encouragement

Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey is a rising star in the NBA. As the former University of Kentucky standout can attack the basket through traffic at the speed of light and has developed into an all-around three-level scoring threat, Maxey’s offense is by far his best quality when he takes the floor.

Defensively, he tends to struggle. Effort on the defensive end of the floor is never an issue with Maxey. Instead, being undersized has a notable impact on his value as a two-way guard.

But on Friday night in the fourth quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers, Maxey’s defense shined brighter than ever.

“Huge,” said James Harden while describing Maxey’s defensive stand down the stretch of the comeback win. “Huge. Tyrese, De’Anthony (Melton). We need efforts like that. I mean, you got two of the best guards in this league in (Anfernee) Simons and Dame (Lillard), and I think [Tyrese] really did a good job, especially late in that fourth quarter.”

76ers head coach Doc Rivers noted that the veteran defensive standout PJ Tucker was Maxey’s biggest supporter in the locker room after the game, crediting the young guard for coming up big for his team when they needed him the most.

“Tuck was killing Tyrese after the game,” said Rivers. "He was like, ‘The cat’s out of the bag, brother.’ That’s what he kept saying. ‘You played amazing defense.’ Veterans in your locker room are so important. He was in his face saying, ‘You played amazing defense. You can do that every single night.’ They were happy about that. Now we know. He pressured the ball. Got over picks. Didn’t get picked. Even sank and took the big away. Took his legs away on one. Those were great plays for him. It was good learning stuff for Tyrese.”

Maxey mentioned that Tucker’s been in his ear “all year long,” encouraging him on the defensive end. On Friday, it paid off for everybody to see as the Sixers completed a 21-point comeback to take down the Trail Blazers 120-119.

“I appreciate that,” Maxey said. “Tuck’s been on me, he’s been saying, ‘Bruh, you’re not a bad defender. Stop letting them call you a bad defender.’ He tells me to go out there, compete, and be myself by using my speed every single night. I think I’ve been doing that as of late, trying to pick up, bother guys, take them out of their comfort zone, and it’s been working.”

Along with support from his veteran teammates, Maxey also believes there is a mix of two other factors that helped him against Portland.

“Film and competitive nature,” he revealed. “Try to go out and compete every single night, and I think I've always done that, but especially now because you gotta be able to play two sides of the ball come playoff time. I think I did a solid job of that last year. I'm trying to do the same thing this year.”

Maxey’s defense is still a work in progress. But if there is one thing everybody in Philadelphia knows about Maxey, it’s that he’s going to continue to put the work in. As long as he stays consistent, the 22-year-old guard will continue to find ways to be disruptive on the defensive end.

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