PHILADELPHIA — Tyrese Maxey knew he didn’t have his best game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. But he still knew he could do what the Philadelphia 76ers needed him to do in order to win.

“I was pretty stinky in the first three quarters,” Maxey admitted. At that point in the game, he had just nine points and was being outscored by four of his teammates and four of his opponents. He had made just four of his 13 attempts from the field.

But in the fourth quarter, Maxey scored 15 points on 5-9 shooting to uplift the 76ers over the Cavs, owners of the Eastern Conference's second seed. He ended the contest with 24 points, tied with Jarrett Allen for the game-high mark, and a team-high five assists. Philly had once again pulled off a surprising win over Cleveland, this time by a score of 104-97.

“If we could just hang around and they give me a chance to make some shots in the fourth to close it out, I told 'em I got 'em,” Tyrese Maxey said. “So that’s what we did.”

Cam Payne scored 13 points off the bench in the first half, making him the Sixers' only player in double figures by that point. Nick Nurse had a feeling that, eventually, his star guard would awaken and do the job that the team needed from him.

“I think we're in good shape here because Tyrese hasn't really engaged offensively yet and I'm pretty sure he's going to,” Nurse recalls saying at halftime. The 76ers head coach said that it was a game where others were pitching in on offense more and that Maxey was okay with that. But, Nurse added, the All-Star guard “just threw it in gear at the right time” to get Philly in the win column. 

Maxey's performance against the Cavs paled in comparison to how he fared against the New York Knicks just one night prior. He scored 35 points on 11-24 shooting, taking it right to another conference rival. But the 76ers came out flat and, despite a strong comeback attempt in the second half, suffered a big defeat.

The result flipping in the game against the Cavs wasn't the result of Maxey taking a back seat to let others do the heavy lifting. Overall, the 76ers played much more sharply and tied up some loose ends that became their downfall against the Knicks. Maxey knows that, through all the ebbs and flows, he holds his team's fate in his hands.

“One thing about me is I always trust my work, so I'm not gonna deviate from what I know and I'm not gonna hold my head. I'm always gonna be aggressive. I have to do that for this team,” Maxey said. “Sometimes it's not gonna be pretty, especially at the beginning of the games. Last night I was hitting shots, making shots like all night. But tonight I had to overcome adversity and make some shots in the fourth quarter.”

The work Tyrese Maxey has put in has made him built for high-pressure moments. He averages 7.6 fourth-quarter points per game, which ranks eighth on the leaderboard among qualified players. While Joel Embiid being sidelined makes it harder for the 76ers to stack wins, it does give Maxey more reps as the primary star for opposing game plans, which should only help his already remarkable growth.