James Harden, Doc Rivers Highlight Tyrese Maxey’s Play vs. Spurs

The Philadelphia 76ers had an opportunity to give their starting lineup fewer minutes on Friday night against the San Antonio Spurs. The matchup wasn’t so far lopsided in Philadelphia’s favor early on in the second half, which would be a situation where teams unload the bench early and give starters the rest of the night off.

Instead, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers rolled out his bench players for longer than usual, and the unit thrived with the leadership of the young rising star, Tyrese Maxey.

Maxey checked in for a total of 27 minutes. Only Joel Embiid accounted for more playing time. During his shift, Maxey put up 15 shots, knocking down eight of his attempts. He drilled three of his four shots from beyond the arc, accounting for 25 points off the bench.

While Maxey led the bench unit in scoring, his backcourt partner Shake Milton had himself a solid night as well. Draining four of his seven shots from the field, along with going 6-7 from the charity stripe, Milton produced 14 points in 22 minutes.

After the game, Sixers guard James Harden mentioned that the two guards gave the team exactly what they needed to defeat a Spurs team that they lost to earlier in the year.

“That’s what I need from them,” Harden said during his postgame press conference. “Consistently, they run those sets. What that unit is about is getting stops. If we get stops, we give ourselves a chance to get out in transition. They did a really good job of handling business.”

Doc Rivers elaborated on the duo as well.

“[Tyrese] played great,” Rivers said during his postgame press conference. “He played downhill a lot and was the aggressor a lot, and that’s what we need. Him and Shake, I tell you, when they come in the game, you better get their feet ready because they both are aggressive, and they’re going downhill.”

For reserves that played for over 15 minutes on Friday, the Sixers’ bench outscored San Antonio’s 62-34. While Embiid’s 33-point night was obviously key for a Sixers victory, the bench unit’s performance was a primary reason why the Sixers left Texas with a 137-125 win on Friday.

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