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PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers want to construct a team strong enough for Joel Embiid to lead to the championship. They don’t want a squad that can only trek toward the mountaintop when Embiid leads the way. After losing to the Milwaukee Bucks in their season opener, Tyrese Maxey implored the team to find ways to win without its franchise superstar.
The Bucks not only led for most of the game but led by double digits for the final 26 minutes of game time. With no Embiid or Paul George, Maxey (rightly) took the bulk of the shots for the Sixers. But he connected on just 10 of his 31 field-goal attempts, a result that was a product of his team's shortcomings and his own. It's something that he cannot afford to do when he's the temporary top option.
Last season, the Sixers went 16-27 in games without Embiid. When he and PG don’t play, Maxey is left with a team that mostly resembles the squad he had to play with throughout February and March, a non-intimidating roster where he has to create a vast majority of the offense. A major source of motivation for the moves they made this offseason, such as landing another star and bringing in a veteran backup center, was figuring out how to win when Embiid sits out.
“We played one game. I'm not about to sit here and say that just because Jo was out, we played bad,” Maxey said. “I mean, yes, we did not win the game, which is the goal. But we've been without Jo all preseason, all training camp for the most part — he's been ramping up. We have to go out there and execute what we worked on. Us winning, it can't be solely on Joel Embiid. It just can't.”
The Sixers will have plenty of chances to learn how to win without Embiid. George may have missed the game but was on track to play in it before a freak knee hyperextension in the preseason. He'll be there to help right the ship, as will the team gaining chemistry.
“I feel like tonight,” Maxey said, “we gotta make shots and we gotta keep playing the right way, I think we'll be better. I'll definitely be better, so I'm not gonna worry about that.”
Tyrese Maxey struggles in 76ers' season opener vs. Bucks
Maxey took on the role of lead option without George to provide steady help as a secondary option. It was a daunting task that the Sixers should have figured would be placed upon him because of their plans to manage George and Embiid's loads throughout the season. It makes it even more important for him to improve in the mid-range.
“We know he is got a drive game. We know he's got a deep, [three-point] game and then you gotta use a little bit more in the middle. That's one of, I think, his growth areas,” Nick Nurse said, adding that Maxey “didn't seem to adjust to that enough.”
Maxey has previously discussed his need to improve in the middle scoring level, the one that few NBA players excel at but that each star must have equipped in cases of emergency. Ironically, he shot decently well on non-rim-attempts twos (4/9). However, most of those shots were from drives in the paint. Plus, that efficiency came at the cost of a brutal performance on shots close to the cup.
On shots at the rim, Maxey posted a putrid 4-13 shooting. Nurse said one of the 76ers' missed adjustments was being smarter about challenging Brook Lopez. Maxey admitted his culpability in that issue, lamenting the times when he “went in there and challenged him when I didn't have to, especially because I created enough space off ball screens where I could have shot the three or I could have gotten in the lane and passed it.”
The Sixers lacked enough shooting threats for the Bucks to load up in the paint and funnel Maxey into the trees. But there were times when Maxey stayed patient and let plays develop, opening up room to uncork an open shot. In the play below, he does a perfect job of using the screen, keeping Gary Trent Jr. behind him and waiting for the screener (KJ Martin) to roll, taking Giannis Antetokounmpo down with him. He also makes sure the help at the nail isn’t closing in too hard on him, dashing through the lane when it's most open for the floater.
Too often, Maxey just stepped on the gas and tried to beat the interior defense to the punch. Against defenders as good as Lopez and the Greek Freak, coming up with positive results is a massive challenge for a small guard. Of Lopez's six blocks, two came on shots from Maxey. Milwaukee's rim protector forced several other misses from the Philly guard.
“I played a little bit too fast,” Maxey said. “I know Nurse wants me to play fast, just before the defense loads up or whatever. But I played a little bit too fast. It was a couple of times where I could have gotten there and took my time on layups where I missed.”
In the second half, Maxey made it a point to play faster the right way, darting ahead in transition for shots early in the shot clock and hunting opportunities where he could get the ball as he went downhill in the halfcourt. Still, Milwaukee did a great job of setting up its defense in a hurry. Maxey fell into the trap several times, coming away with a tough look that didn’t fall.
It’s true that Maxey did miss a bunch of shots he normally makes, fueling his poor shooting and perhaps some of his erratic shot choices. He left behind some highlights to be in awe of but also forced the issue way too often and didn’t do a great job of searching for kick-outs.
The layup he scored against Giannis where he switched hands midair was a very tough, impressive bucket. One of his goals going forward is to make sure he can depend on and create easier looks. It should also be a goal of the Sixers to get him in more sets like this, where he be a trailer, cutter or recipient of off-ball motion.
“It was one of those nights, honestly. A couple of layups that I normally make, a couple of floaters, a couple of wide-open threes. But I can live with that,” he said. “I know that would happen less than often just because of the work. But I'm okay with it and I'll bounce back and we'll bounce back as a team.”
Maxey can take solace in the fact that the 76ers don't need him to take on all of the pressure of leading them to a championship. When the lights brighten in April, Embiid will be there to make his (and everyone else’s) life easier. It's up to the big man to navigate the most treacherous waters. However, he'll need Maxey to be a primary navigator across the long sea of the regular season.
