Tyrese Maxey scored a career-high 52 points in the Philadelphia 76ers' win over the San Antonio Spurs. For the third time this season, Maxey reached a new record in points in a game and led the Sixers to a much-needed win. When he gets going, he’s incredibly hard to stop.
The Sixers' win over the Spurs was a rollercoaster from start to finish. With a pair of overtimes and 11 lead changes, Philly squandered leads and went on runs up until they could finally hold. Maxey came out the gates relatively slowly before turning it on the second half to keep pace with Victor Wembanyama and company. While the rookie phenom did his thing, Maxey put up a historic performance.
The final stat line for Maxey was 52 points on 19-41 shooting from the field, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals. There have only been 23 games in NBA history with a stat line that reached 52-5-7-2, according to Stathead. Only two players posted that line while committing just one turnover: Maxey and Giannis Antetokounmpo. The only game on that list from a player younger than Maxey was from LeBron James. But wait, there’s more.
Maxey joined an exclusive list of players to tally three 50-point games before turning 24 years old. Rick Barry did it seven times. James, Wilt Chamberlain and Luka Doncic each did it five times. Along with Maxey, the group of players who did it just three times are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Devin Booker and Jayson Tatum.
Iconic high-level scorers like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Allen Iverson and Kevin Durant couldn’t reach the half-century mark in three games as often as Maxey did before blowing out 24 candles. Since his birthday is on November 4, he has the chance to add to his total at the beginning of next season in addition to the end of this one.
Maxey, Booker and Joel Embiid are the only players with three 50-point games this season. The two current Sixers are just two of the four players in franchise history with a hat trick of 50-burgers in a season along with Chamberlain and Iverson. However you slice it, Maxey's masterpiece was nothing short of sensational.
Tyrese Maxey scores career-best 52 points in 76ers win vs. Spurs
Despite the presence of Wembanyama, the NBA's leading shot-blocker, Maxey shot 13-17 at the rim. He didn’t simply pick his spots and shoot when Wemby was off the floor. The Spurs center contested five of those shots (committing two goaltends) and was in the paint for four others. Although Wemby blocked a Maxey shot attempt twice, he couldn’t completely stave off the onslaught of buckets from No. 0.
Maxey has spoken previously about how he looks to change his timing and release angles on layups to get them to go over taller players. Wembanyama, a spry youngster standing 7-foot-4 with an eight-foot-long wingspan, is as tough as they come to conquer in the paint. Despite standing over a full foot shorter, Maxey was up for the challenge.
Smaller NBA players like Maxey often aren’t recognized for their strength unless they have big, muscle-popping physiques or have an overtly physical style of play. Yet they can still show off their strength by scoring when their bodies are knocked off balance. Maxey switching directions mid-drive and scooping a layup around Sandro Mamukelashvili despite falling to the ground made for perhaps his best individual highlight of the night.
Maxey's fearlessness got him 12 free throws, all of which he cashed in on. His jumper wasn’t falling all that much, making just two of his 10 attempts from downtown and one of his six non-paint two-point tries. He came up with two critical jumpers as Philly tried to catch San Antonio on the scoreboard. On a triple in the final minute of regulation, he slammed on the breaks and drained a shot from the right wing.
On both of Maxey's steals, he wasted no time getting into a fast break. With wheels that no one else could keep pace with, it’s no wonder why the 76ers star zoomed ahead and scored at the rim.
In the fourth quarter, Maxey scored 18 of Philly's 38 points. He scored 14 of the team's last 20 points and the remaining six came on three-pointers from Nico Batum that he assisted. As has been a theme this season, Maxey has stepped up in the fourth quarter when the Sixers needed him. His 7.4 fourth-quarter points per game rank in the top 10 across the league.
In the first overtime, Maxey scored four points. He didn’t score any in the second overtime period but the heater he was on opened up space for Ricky Council IV to cut into. It took a crazy finish from Council to get the two points but Maxey made the critical pass.
The mere fact that Tyrese Maxey played 53 minutes and 57 seconds of a game that lasted 58 minutes is incredible. Nick Nurse developed a reputation for playing his key players heavy minutes and Maxey playing 37.6 minutes per game, which ranks third in the league, feeds into that. But this time, it was all his decision.
Maxey told head coach Nurse that he didn’t want to be subbed out during his masterful performances. His defiance of the 76ers' substitution pattern led to one of his most iconic performances and one of the best wins of their season. While Philly will surely be careful not to overwork Maxey before the postseason, it has been made clear time and time again that there's no challenge he won’t accept.
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