Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe Are Running Toward the Fire

PHILADELPHIA — Kyle Lowry called Tyrese Maxey in May, some weeks after the brutal 2024-25 Sixers season mercifully ended.

In that call, Maxey made Lowry a promise: The Sixers would be in the playoffs in 2026.

"I said, 'There's just no chance that I'm going to let you not be in the playoffs next year'," Maxey told reporters after the Sixers' Play-In victory over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday.

Lowry wasn't the only Sixer to have a pact with Maxey.

"We got a lot of guys on our team that haven't been to the playoffs. Dalen Terry came up to me before the game, said he's been in the Play-In, like, three times and hasn't made it out. Barlow said that," Maxey explained.

It means a great deal to the Sixers' star that he was able to keep his promise. That his team is back in the playoffs. Maxey doesn't care that the Sixers needed to fight through a Play-In game to get there, or that they'll face the heavily-favored Boston Celtics in the first round.

He simply wanted to get in.

"Jabari [Walker], Trendon [Watford], [Adem] Bona, Justin [Edwards], VJ [Edgecombe]. All those guys haven't been to the playoffs. So it was great" said Maxey.

"I'mma be honest, it's great to be in the playoffs," Edgecombe said through a wide smile. "You know what I'm saying? Some teams are home. But it's great to be in the playoffs. I'm super excited. Obviously we're going to play against a really good team. Now it's on to the next game. Now we're focused on that next game. So yeah, man, I'm excited."

Several things had to happen to accomplish that goal. To play the game on the Sixers' terms.

"Listen, we want to guard them to make them take tough shots. Limit them to one shot as much as we can. They like to get out and run as mentioned, but if we can secure the defensive boards and we can get out and run, too, I think we want to run into some space," Nick Nurse told reporters on Wednesday night.

"I think we need to use our speed and quickness a little bit against their strength."

The Magic picked up nine offensive rebounds on 48 missed shots for a paltry offensive rebounding rate of 26%, per Cleaning The Glass. Mission accomplished.

Paolo Bnachero, Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane accounted for 49 of Orlando's 81 shots. 60% of the Magic possessions that ended with a shot rather than a turnover or free throws. The Sixers contested roughly 60% of those shots. Good enough.

The Sixers lost the battle of fastbreak points by three, but won points off turnovers by two. That'll play.

That game plan was sufficient. So, Boston it is.

"Tremendous, tremendous challenge for us."

History has not been kind to Philadelphia in this matchup.

The last time the Sixers won a playoff series against the Celtics? 1982.

The Sixers have lost six consecutive series against the Celtics since then.

Perhaps the adrenaline of beating the Magic was still fresh when Nurse was asked about flipping the script on that recent history.

"First of all, it'll be a great atmosphere in both arenas. I think that's always a blast, when you got two arenas that are electric with energy in playoff time. You got to really look forward and enjoy that. We'll do our best," he offered.

Or perhaps he was just being realistic, not wanting to steal the thrill of victory from his team minutes after the battle they'd just won.

"They're playing great. They've played really great all season. They got a bunch of guys that have been together for a long time. Through a lot of winning and a lot of deep runs," Nurse said.

"Tremendous, tremendous challenge for us. But we'll see if we can go figure something out between now and Sunday."

Edgecombe remembers the nail-biting affairs the Sixers had with the Celtics during the regular season. But this is different. The Sixers haven't seen the Celtics with Jayson Tatum back.

"That's a really good team. They just added Tatum back. We haven't seen them with Tatum. But obviously they're a really good team. I think we split the series this year. So we just got to go out and play hard every night, every night" said Edgecombe.

"They're well-coached. They got a lot of shooters. Lot of great players. So we just got to be ready for any adversity that's going to come around."

The only Sixer to know the adversity of playing the Celtics better than Maxey is Joel Embiid. But Maxey isn't approaching this challenge as a Sisyphean task. It's going to be fun in his eyes.

"It's going to be tough. It's going to be fun, though. Boston's a great team. Great fanbase. Great organization. I just can't wait to go there and play."

But Maxey has never experienced this matchup as the leader of a team.

It's a totally new perspective for him. There will be ups and downs.

He can either take his surfboard and go home after the waves get the best of him, or he can climb back on and paddle out to where the waves break and prepare himself to ride the next one smoothly.

"In this version of our team, we need him to be really great. I'm sure over this next series, he's going to—like everybody—probably have some ups and downs," Nurse said.

"I would imagine he's going to have some really great games and then sprinkle in some other ones. That's just the way playoffs go. We need him to be really great."

From the sounds of it, Maxey is prepared to paddle.

He's seen things that no one outside the organization has seen this season. Things that have prepared his team for this moment.

"Trust me, if y'all have seen our practices early in the year, I thought we were trying to kill each other. I was like, 'This is too physical for me. I'm going to sit on the sideline'," he joked.

But Maxey insists it's a good thing for the team.

"This group tough. We ain't backing down from nobody. We have a lot of tough guys out there," Maxey said.

"We're not going to take no mess. I think that's going to be good for us."

While Edgecombe and Maxey provided the smiles and giggles, Paul George was far more reserved in his assessment of the matchup.

Not even the chants of "We want Boston" raining upon the court as the Sixers put the game away could induce euphoria for George. Or, if they did, he certainly didn't show it.

"We're playing against winners. We're playing against champions. This is where they play their best basketball. So we respect that. We're going to have to challenge that. But they've been great for a couple years now," George told reporters on Wednesday night.

"They're a well-oiled machine over there. Great coach. Great roster. Two studs, superstars over there. Just a ton of guys that know how to play the right way. It's going to be a challenge. We just got to be ready for it."

The Sixers have two-and-a-half days to prepare themselves.

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