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Philadelphia 76ers star Tyrese Maxey is facing a new challenge this season as the team's unquestioned lead scoring option. The absence of Joel Embiid due to a knee injury has led to Maxey facing defenses game planning almost exclusively for him. Despite the increased defensive attention, the All-Star guard is still averaging 26.6 points per game, an uptick from his previous career-high of 25.9 points per game last season.
“You just have to embrace that,” Maxey said in a one-on-one interview about the increased defensive attention. “Honestly, it's a respect thing. I was upset early in the year, getting double-teamed, and getting blitzed off pick-and-rolls. I had good conversations with Joel (Embiid) and Kyle (Lowry) — it's a respect thing. They feel they're going to blitz you off pick-and-rolls, they're going to put two guards on you.
Embiid has been limited to just 13 games this season due to a knee injury. Unsurprisingly, the 76ers have struggled in the former NBA MVP's absence, going 17-27 so far this season. With Embiid in the lineup, Philadelphia is 7-6. Without him, they're just 10-21.
While the addition of nine-time All-Star Paul George has helped take a little bit of the pressure off of Maxey, the 76ers are still heavily relying on their 24-year-old guard. The fifth-year player's usage percentage is at a career-high of 30.6%, the 10th-highest rate in the NBA.
“Your job now is get your teammates a good shot, get your teammates a good look, make the game easier for them,” Maxey said of his newfound role. That's what I've been trying to do.”
Although his assists per game are down slightly from last season at 6.0 from 6.2, his assist percentage is at a career-high of 28.7% compared to 26.7% last year.
Maxey says among the biggest things he wants to improve upon is “manipulating” defenses.
“The biggest thing that I want to improve upon is, I think I've done a good job of manipulating defenses ever since I had to start becoming a main focus,” Maxey said. “Every single game, you know that the opposing team is game planning to stop you and help their team win and beat your team. Without Joel, I've had to do that a lot more this season.”
He also mentions still scoring while finding the right balance in getting his teammates involved.
“I've got to get in the paint, get my teammates over, and then start scoring or finding ways to still score,” Maxey said. “Their sole purpose of the game is trying to stop you from scoring, stop you from leading your team and getting your teammates involved. I think I've done a good job with that. That's one thing that I'm still trying to improve on though.”
Maxey is still clearly having a dominant season despite the absence of his top teammate. However, his objective for the remainder of the season will be getting the 76ers to the playoffs. Philadelphia has never missed the postseason during Maxey's for seasons with the team.
They'll look to turn things around in the second half of the season.
