Tyrese Maxey was far from his usual self in the Philadelphia 76ers' loss to the Phoenix Suns. His off night created a snowballing effect that put the Sixers behind the Suns and left them unable to catch up, losing 115-102.
With just six points on 3-13 shooting, Maxey had his lowest-scoring game of the season. He did contribute seven assists but it didn’t make up for his woeful shooting and inability to get to the foul line in the slightest.
“I just couldn’t get in rhythm,” Maxey told reporters after the loss. “I missed some easy ones. I missed a lot of open threes. There was this one time, they literally forgot to guard me walking down the court and I missed it. It is alright. I will bounce back and shake back. No worries. I mean, I have been playing pretty well so, I was due for one.”
When shots like that can’t even go for Maxey, you know something's off. Swinging his hand down to his hip with exasperation said it all.
Tyrese Maxey's poor shooting exacerbated 76ers' other struggles
Maxey said he tried to keep getting into the paint and get shots going for his teammates, which helped the 76ers get into a groove in the third quarter. There were times when the Suns forced the ball out of his hands and the rest of the Sixers could finish the play off. But he said that he still wasn’t able to get his own rhythm going, and it especially showed in the third quarter when Phoenix ran away with it.
Nick Nurse said that the 76ers were too impatient on offense, shooting too quickly for better looks to come around. Struggles on defense (the Suns shot 48.7 percent on three-pointers) and the boards (the Suns won the rebounding battle and collected 13 OREBS in the first half) compounded with a brutal shooting display from his team's best available player.
“He just didn’t seem to get any space, any rhythm, anything. Even when he did, he got to a point where he was having a really off night,” Nurse said to reporters. “I just decided to kind of let most of those guys go and let the other guys play it out because I didn’t think it was going to make a difference in the game. So, he hasn’t had any games like that this year, so we’ll just get him to bounce back and have him play better in the next one.”
For as long as Joel Embiid is out, the Sixers aren’t going to win games in which Maxey is this horribly inefficient. It's important for them to find a way to win without the big man but figuring out that riddle and making a backup plan for their second All-Star having an off night is too big of an assignment to take on.
Losing to the Suns wasn’t the best way for the 76ers to start their road trip. But the good news for them is that they still have plenty more games in it. Matchups with the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and Sacramento Kings await, making it even easier to learn the lessons from this loss and then get over it.
“Go back and compete,” Tyrese Maxey said. “We dropped one today but, that's okay. We will get back into it again tomorrow. Probably practice and do what we have to do. Get some shots up and then be ready for these two games in L.A.”
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