Trail Blazers' Billups Compliments Tyrese Maxey, James Harden

The Philadelphia 76ers and the Portland Trail Blazers went head-to-head for the second and final time this season on Friday night.

Before the two teams battled it out, Portland head coach Chauncey Billups complimented Philly’s backcourt duo of Tyrese Maxey and James Harden as the Blazers knew they could have their hands full with the one-two punch on Friday night.

“They’re very different,” said the player-turned-coach on Friday night.

Billups then explained further by noting that Harden is essentially the quarterback of the Sixers’ offense, making plays happen with high-IQ decisions. Meanwhile, Maxey is the speedy guard that can find ways to score at will.

“James is like a surgeon,” said Billups. "He’s out there, he’s very methodical. He takes his time. He’s seen every coverage that you can possibly throw at him. His IQ is just incredible, so he can pick you apart.”

Although Harden used to frequently lead the NBA in scoring, he’s tweaked his game and has become more of a playmaker first. While he’s still averaging over 21 points per game as a scorer, Harden is currently leading the NBA in assists per game with 11. If he finishes the year at the top, it will mark the second time he leads the NBA in the category and the first time since 2017.

“[As for] Tyrese, he’s just explosive, man,” Billups continued. “He’s just explosive, he’s always looking to attack. He’s an aggressive, downhill player, so they’re two different types of guards. You have to prepare for both. Personnel driven, game plan, KYP — know your personnel — and you gotta compete against them knowing that you can play very good defense against some of these guys, and they’re still gonna score. So what? We’ll live with that.”

The Blazers did a decent job of keeping Maxey from getting a ton of ideal looks from the field on Friday night, but the young guard still had an efficient outing. Putting up eight shots, Maxey was successful on five attempts. He finished the game with 13 points in 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, Harden did a little bit of everything. He was one of five players to notch double-digits by scoring 19 points. He also came down with nine rebounds and dished out eight assists while keeping turnovers at a minimum, just coughing up the ball twice.

Billups and the Blazers nearly pulled off the upset win against the Sixers as they controlled the matchup for the entire night, but Harden, Maxey, and the star center Joel Embiid completed the comeback and put Portland away with a one-point win.

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