The Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks faced off for the second-straight game Wednesday night, this time in Philadelphia. After an impressive two first outings, James Harden finally had the chance to play in front of the Sixers' home crowd. The former MVP did not disappoint the fans as he tallied a near triple-double with 26 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists.
Thanks to a strong second-half performance, the Sixers walked out with a 123-108 victory over New York. This turnaround would not have been possible if not for the large scoring outburst in the final two frames from the biggest fan-favorite.
Since Harden entered the mix, Tyrese Maxey has been able to play much more freely. The second-year guard no longer has to burden the primary playmaking duties and can once again embrace his combo guard nature. This resulted in the 21-year-old breaking the 20-point mark in the Sixers' previous two matchups.
While Maxey finished the night on a high note, it did not start that way. Heading into halftime, he had only scored four points. Whatever the team did during the break, it worked. Once the second half was underway, Maxey quickly turned back into the high-powered offensive guard we've grown accustomed to seeing.
Following this second-half barrage, Maxey again broke the 20-point plateau. He finished as the Sixers' third-leading scorer with 25 points and did so on impressive 7-for-12 shooting from the field.
After the win, Doc Rivers was asked about the night and day performance from his starting guard. He mentioned he wanted to get the ball in his hands more in the final two quarters and wanted to get him more involved in the offense.
“Just getting him involved more. I thought he was just out there in the first half, and we didn't get the involvement. We talked about it at halftime, so we made a concerted effort. We talked about it, you got to go out and do it, and I thought we did it,” said Rivers.
One of the underlying storylines for the new-look Sixers is the three-headed monster slowly forming on offense. Many figured Joel Embiid and James Harden would do damage, but Maxey has managed to keep pace with the two All-Stars. Having a facilitator like Harden alongside him has created an array of scoring looks, and Maxey continues to take full advantage of them.
Given how opposing defenses are going to do everything they can to take away from the superstar duo, the Sixers will need production from other areas if they want to be successful. This scoring bump from Maxey as of late has been a pleasant surprise for them and made the offensive even harder to slow down in the process.
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