During Friday's road win against the Houston Rockets, the Philadelphia 76ers showed a glimpse of their depth, as they've managed to win without franchise player Joel Embiid.  In Embiid's absence, the lights shone brightly on Tyrese Maxey, who put on a show at the Toyota Center.

Maxey finished the outing with 42 points on 50% shooting from the field. The 23-year-old guard also made 14 out of his 15 attempts from the charity stripe. His big night just put his fingerprints in the Sixers' history books as well.

As of Friday night's win, Maxey now has the second most 40-point games by a Sixers player under 23 years old, as per Sixers Stats. His outing against the Rockets marks his third 40-point game for the franchise, surpassing Charles Barkley and being runner-up to none other than Sixers legend Allen Iverson, who had a total of eight at 23 years of age.

 

While he may be far off from reaching Iverson's record, it is worth noting that Maxey only turned 23 years old last November, meaning he still has almost a year to accumulate five more 40-point outings and tie the Sixers legend.

As for the rest of the Sixers, other players also stepped up in the win against Houston. Behind Tyrese Maxey, Tobias Harris contributed to the scoring with 22 points. De'Anthony Melton added 15 while the team got a boost off the bench with 14 points from Marcus Morris Sr.

Philadelphia is currently third place in the East, right behind the Milwaukee Bucks. The team will be taking on the Chicago Bulls the following night to try and end their 2023 on a high note.