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Like millions around the country, Tyrese Maxey watched an inconsolable Joel Embiid trudge back to the Sixers locker room after Philadelphia's heart-wrenching Game 7 loss to the Toronto Raptors in 2019. Maxey understood then and there how much winning meant to Embiid.
ESPN's Tim Bontemps tweeted Wednesday that Maxey discussed watching Kawhi Leonard sink his miraculous buzzer-beater as a senior in high school. But it was the reaction of the Sixers' star center, not the shot itself, that stuck with Maxey.
Tyrese Maxey said he was watching Sixers-Raptors in 2019 as a senior in high school. Says he remembered watching Kawhi Leonard’s shot and the aftermath of it, and that he saw how much winning meant to Joel Embiid.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) April 20, 2022
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Leonard's shot eliminated the Sixers in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals that year. Philadelphia followed that up with a first round loss to the Celtics in 2020, and another Eastern Conference Semis exit at the hands of the Hawks last year. The Sixers haven't made a Conference Finals since the 2000-01 season, when they reached the NBA Finals.
Maxey will now join the MVP-candidate as Philadelphia takes the floor in the same arena on the same playoff stage. The Raptors host the Sixers in Game 3 of their first round series in the 2022 NBA Playoffs Wednesday. Philadelphia leads the best-of-seven series two games to none.
Maxey, in his second season with the 76ers, had a breakout season in 2022. He more than doubled his points and assists per game, up to 17.5 and 4.3, respectively. But his performance through the first two games of this year's playoffs have been out of this world. Maxey dropped 38 in Game 1, and he followed it up with a modest 23 two nights later. Perhaps his memory of a devastated Embiid fuels the blossoming Sixers' star. We'll see what Tyrese Maxey has in store in Game 3.
