The Sixers weren’t supposed to win last night. Not without Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, and Matisse Thybulle. Not when Paul Reed is thrust into the starting lineup alongside Andre Drummond, Tyrese Maxey, Shake Milton, and Furkan Korkmaz.

But they gave the Bucks a run on Tuesday, and maybe should have won the game. They took a two-point lead into the fourth quarter but only mustered 16 points on 5-26 shooting in that period, which ended up being the story of the game. With the score 109-107 and 2:49 on the clock, the Sixers only hit one more field goal the rest of the way.

It’s easy to go negative on a team that’s missing multiple starters and has a max player currently in a ridiculous hold out situation. You could point to the six-game road swing coming up. But you have to be pleasantly surprised with how the Sixers’ non-star players have performed over these past two weeks, and we’ll focus today on second-year guard Tyrese Maxey.

Maxey scored 31 points on 12-24 shooting. He made a career-best four three pointers and added four assists and five rebounds. 17 points in the first quarter matched a single-quarter career high.

“I think confidence, leadership, voice, being more vocal (has contributed to progress),” Maxey said after the game. “I think at the beginning of the year I was, I don’t want to say scared, but I was timid to speak my mind or say my mind. Or try to lead with my voice. I think now I’ve become a little more comfortable with it. And just trying to do my part to help us win.”


Through 12 games, Maxey has three 20+ point performances, which ties his total for all of last season. He’s scoring in different ways, too, which you can see in this short video clip:

He’s quick to turn the corner, and that little scoop layup is tough to defend. Maxey isn’t a big guy, but does a really nice job using his body to shield defenders from the ball and get those shots off in the paint. That was there last year, plus the floater game, but it looks more refined this season. And if he continues to improve as a three-point shooter, then look out. He was a combo guard coming out of college and is showing off a well-rounded game already.

“I think you’re seeing the same thing, the kid is unreal,” said Georges Niang. “What I think about what I was doing at 21 years old, it would not be scoring 31 points in an NBA game and being able to play large amounts of minutes and walking every day with a smile on his face. The kid has so much energy and so much pizazz, he’s so poised and I am so happy for him because everything that’s going on with our team, this allows him to have growth in his career. Who would’ve said if things were different that he’d have this opportunity and I love that he is maximizing it. For him to come in and do what he does every day and take ownership of it and guys are on him, Tyrese doesn’t get any grace from anybody and he takes it on the chin and he continues to grow and get better and it shows, the kid was phenomenal and he has been phenomenal.”

Maxey was good defensively, too. According to the matchup data provided by the NBA, he spent six minutes on George Hill, two on Jrue Holiday, and two on Justin Robinson. Hill was 2-3 with a turnover, while Holiday and Robinson combined to shoot 0-3 in their Maxey possessions.

It’s interesting to watch Maxey handle the ball, because he came out of Kentucky as a tweener. He was not a point guard, and yet this season he has 56 assists and 17 turnovers, good for a 3.29 A/TO ratio. His three point percentage is up to .385, from the .301 number he posted as a rookie. The intangibles seem to be there. He’s got the ability to organize and set the offense on the fly. And he seems to be well-liked by his teammates and the fan base, so he’s in a good position to thrive and continue to evolve.

Another solid pick up from Daryl Morey, who deserves the lion’s share of the credit for turning around the 2020 team that finished 6th in the East.