From the moment he arrived from the Brooklyn Nets James Harden has quickly embraced a leadership role with the Philadelphia 76ers. As an All-Star and former MVP, he understands it is on him to help lead the charge alongside Joel Embiid. Even before he made his debut on the court, Harden's voice was already making an impact.
In his first few days with the team, Harden regularly praised Tyrese Maxey. The young guard has caught his attention, and Harden feels the two are going to work well together. Through three games, Philadelphia's new backcourt pairing has thrived, more than living up to those optimistic expectations.
Maxey went off for a big night in the Sixers' 123-108 win over the New York Knicks on Wednesday, but the 21-year-old did not get off to a great start. Heading into halftime, he had scored only four points on five shot attempts.
Following intermission, Maxey was an entirely different player. He went on to score 21 points in 19 minutes of action in the second half, shooting a stellar 5-for-7 from the field and 7-for-8 from the free throw line. When all was said and done, Maxey was the Sixers' third-leading scorer with 25 points.
Maxey spoke to the media postgame and talked about his incredible second-half surge. He cited talking with Harden at halftime as the thing that motivated him to be more aggressive in the final two quarters.
“James came up to me and asked me if I was going to play today, and I told him yeah. Just having guys like James, Joel [Embiid], Tobias [Harris], Spencer [Rivers] came up to me and talked to me a little bit too in the back and said I got to be aggressive. I can't go stretches like that being passive,” said Maxey.
Later on, Harden spoke about why he went to Maxey and encouraged him to be more assertive on the offensive end. He feels Maxey's scoring is essential to the team's success.
“We need him to be aggressive, a lot of times in the game. I know it's difficult because obviously myself and Joel have the ball, but when he has an opportunity, he has to be aggressive, we need that. That second half, he played like we all need him to play,” Harden said.
Harden is right for pushing Maxey to maintain his aggressiveness on offense. Opposing defenses are going to throw everything at the two All-Stars, and to combat that, they need Philly's supporting cast to make plays when they're there. So far, Maxey has been the biggest standout when it comes to making the opponent pay for putting their focus on Embiid and Harden, averaging 24.3 points per game on scorching 64.3% shooting since the latter's debut.
Maxey has always been open to taking advice from those around him and understands he can learn a lot from his new All-Star teammate. Having Harden in his ear is already paying huge dividends for both Maxey and the Sixers.
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