Philadelphia 76ers: Keep your foot on the gas, Tyrese Maxey

The sky is falling, the sky is falling! After putting up Michael Jordan numbers throughout the month of November, Tyrese Maxey has fallen back to earth, and the Philadelphia 76ers are so bad that can’t even comfortably beat the Orlando Magic!

Pack it up friends, the season is over… okay, not really.

Yes, Maxey had his first single-digit scoring game since October 26th and was more or less a non-factor during the back half of a very winnable contest, but things weren’t all doom and gloom in South Philadelphia. In only his second game paired back up with Joel Embiid, Maxey tied his career-high assist total at nine, picked up eight boards, and once again didn’t record a turnover in 32 minutes of action.

If Tyrese Maxey can just keep his foot on the gas, shoot his shot, and play like only six of his teammates are active, the Philadelphia 76ers will return to their consistently winning ways in no time.

The Philadelphia 76ers need Tyrese Maxey to play like Tyrese Maxey.

For the first six minutes of the Orlando Magic game, the Philadelphia 76ers looked unbeatable.

The team had wonderful energy, the offense clicked, and the Magic couldn’t buy a bucket unless Franz Wagner touched the ball. Joel Embiid set screens, Tobias Harris hit catch-and-shoot 3s, and Seth Curry lit the fuse for what would end up being his eighth 20 point game of the season.

Maxey and Embiid assisted on each other’s shots, the dribble handoff looked legit, and, in a very welcomed development, the Sixers averaged 11 rebounds in six minutes while boxing out under the basket.

And then? Nothing.

Once Gary Harris hit a corner 3 at the 6:10 mark in the first, the Magic went on a 15-12 run to get the team within 12, and ultimately secured their first lead at the 6:20 mark of the third.

But why? Well, for one, Doc Rivers got a bit too comfortable and allowed the Magic to erase the lead thanks to a blistering run by Franz Wagner and pre-broken thumb Jalen Suggs at the top of the third. The Magic switched to zone defense, and before the Sixers could compensate, the margin for error erased considerably.

Sidebar: Doc definitely wanted to rest his starters on the fourth, didn’t he? There’s another road trip, I get it, but unfortunately, that’s going to be tough to do until the team’s general talent level improves.

But that wasn’t the only reason why the Magic stayed in the game longer than anyone would have liked. No, Maxey’s inability to get a shot into the bucket from anywhere, but the free-throw line certainly allowed Orlando to stick around longer than they should have, as he literally left a dozen points in the court thanks to his 2-12 showing from the field.

Why? Because Maxey played not quite scared, but cautious. He didn’t relentlessly drive to the basket when he was open, he deferred. He didn’t dribble himself open or use his speed of a screen to attack the paint, or even give the people what they want with his signature floater. No, when Maxey got the ball in the halfcourt, he looked to get the ball into the hands of one of his more veteran teammates.

Now granted, that worked out fairly well, as again, Maxey’s assist total was head and shoulders better than his efforts as a rookie, but he almost became too passive, and in doing so, erased much of what makes him special.

That can’t happen moving forward.

Now as crazy as it may have sounded even a month ago, Maxey is the Sixers’ second-best offensive player. He’s a darn good scorer, an ascending shooter, and the sort of presence who is increasingly drawing doubles at the top of the key. To win games in 2021-22, Maxey needs to score at least 16 points per game, which, conveniently, is 2.5 points less than his average on the season.

If Maxey just scores like Maxey in any given game, the Sixers will hang around with the best of them. But if he and Embiid can form an elite two-man game with three shooters on the wings? Well then, the sky very much may be the limit, especially once the calvary arrives.

As hard as it may be to remember at times, Tyrese Maxey is still just a 21-year-old rookie. He’s played more minutes and games than Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons combined up to that point in their respective careers, and he’s rapidly gained the confidence of Doc Rivers, who is notoriously stingy when it comes to giving minutes to youngsters. While the team certainly needs Maxey to deliver as a passer and rebounder, for the Philadelphia 76ers to play as close to their current ceiling as possible, they need the second-year pro to do what he does best: score.