The Philadelphia 76ers have been among the biggest disappointments through the first week-plus of the NBA season, entering Friday night’s game in Toronto at 1-3 on the young season. Facing a road back-to-back in Toronto followed by a trip to Chicago for a game tomorrow, the Sixers sat Joel Embiid for some rest as he continues to work back into shape after an offseason plantar fasciitis issue, making life all the more difficult against the Raptors.
Doc Rivers chose to fight fire with fire without his All-NBA center, going small against a team that does that as well as anyone, and he was rewarded with an impressive 112-90 win from Philly, led by a career-best performance from Tyrese Maxey. The third-year guard erupted for 44 points on 15-of-20 shooting, including 9-of-12 from three-point range, as he was unstoppable stepping into a larger role with Embiid sitting out.
In the first half, Maxey was perfect from the field, making all 10 of his field goal attempts including seven three-pointers, as he poured in 27 points on the Raptors to push the Sixers to an early lead.
One word for Tyrese Maxey in the first half tonight: PERFECTION
27 PTS (10-10 FGM), 4 AST, 7 3PM
He looks to continue his HOT start in the second half on the NBA App
https://t.co/1pomQZN8Pi pic.twitter.com/Y4KdGbawzN
— NBA (@NBA) October 29, 2022
He would continue that strong shotmaking performance in the second half, albeit not on the same perfect efficiency, and his 44 points boosted the Sixers to a much needed victory.
TYRESE MAXEY HAS A CAREER-HIGH 42 PTS!
He’s ON FIRE on the NBA App:https://t.co/1pomQZMAZK pic.twitter.com/CXnlcglCYC
— NBA (@NBA) October 29, 2022
Maxey set a new career-high with the outburst and showed his potential as a lead scorer, and the challenge now becomes how do the Sixers unlock that potential when he shares the floor with his two fellow high-usage star teammates in Embiid and James Harden — who seemed happy to let Maxey cook on this particular night.