Tyrese Maxey had his greatest game of his career on Saturday night win over the Toronto Raptors. The young guard had 38 points, on 14/21 shooting and 5/8 from beyond the arc leading his team to a comfortable win.
“I think the only thing I’m going to remember is us winning,” Maxey said in the aftermath of his career performance, via NBA.com. With Joel Embiid and James Harden having off-shooting nights, Maxey had to take responsibility.
The sophomore guard was constantly in attack mode starting the game with quick 10 points in the first quarter. He then took over during the third quarter to go for 21 points and help the Sixers create some separation.
With his production, Maxey became the youngest player in Sixers history to score 30-plus points in a playoff game. Additionally, his 21-point third quarter was the second-highest scoring playoff quarter for the Sixers over the last 25 seasons.
Only Allen Iverson had more in a single quarter in that span.
”I saw growth, man,” Harden said. ”I saw him from being up-and-down and not really having consistent minutes last year in the postseason to starting and having a huge role on a championship-contending team.”
The 21-year-old’s role increased dramatically this season. Maxey averaged 17.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists while shooting 48.5 percent from the floor and 42.7 percent from deep in 35.3 minutes per game across 75 contests.
Harden went for 6-of-17 from the field, but, he finished with 22 points and 14 assists. Embiid had 19 points on 5-15 shooting. Both Philadelphia superstars combined to only make 11 of 32 shots from the floor.
“Tyrese is great,” Harden noted. “He has game and he works his butt off. He gets it, he understands it, he puts the work in and great things happen. Tonight was a testament to that.”
Maxey has averaged the most minutes in the Sixers roster this season, but, he never slowed down against a physical team like the Raptors. Along with Maxey, Tobias Harris went in to take the role of the secondary option in offense going for 26 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Philadelphia will host Toronto in Wells Fargo Center Monday for Game 2 of the series.
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