PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers and Indiana Pacers lit up the scoreboard in their first matchup of the season. Tyrese Maxey supplied lots of the fireworks, dropping a career-best 50 points in the Sixers' eighth straight win.

With the game pretty much decided and already having 47 points to his name, which already made for a career-high, Maxey didn’t command the ball to make it a smooth 50. Joel Embiid got it from De'Anthony Melton and got Maxey to run a handoff to get him open. Maxey obliged and hit a step-back triple from 32 feet out to get 50.

“Yeah, I think Joel wanted me to get 50 more than I think I myself did. He was going to grab the ball and was like, you are going to shoot this basketball. So, I just appreciate my teammates, man. Appreciate my teammates, appreciate the fans, appreciate the coaching staff. It was a great night. We got the win, so that's what matters the most.”

Maxey mentioned that teammates encouraging him played a big part in his career game. He named Embiid, Tobias Harris and Patrick Beverley as guys who gave him support he greatly appreciated.

“Those guys are amazing. Tobias was yelling at me on the free-throw line because I wasn't running towards him to get the ball and I'm like, ‘Yo, let's just finish this game, man. These guys are running a thousand miles an hour and that's the fastest game that we ever played.' But, that's great, man. You just gotta appreciate them, man. Tobias, Jo, all of them, Pat. Those are brothers, man. Gotta love 'em for that and I appreciate it.”

After a string of games where Maxey took over in the fourth quarter, Robert Covington coined the nickname “Fourth Quarter Maxey” to signify his heroics in crunch time. Head coach Nick Nurse has continued to preach to Maxey that he has to be aggressive. He's working his way there and his 50-point game is evidence that the results will show in glorious ways.

Maxey growing into one of the Sixers' franchise players would not have been possible without the help of Mike Muscala — but not when the journeyman center played for the Sixers during the 2018-19 season.

Back in 2020, the Sixers owned the first-round pick of the Oklahoma City Thunder but it was top-20 protected. As the Thunder wound down their regular season from the bubble, Muscala hit a pair of late triples that helped them pull off a comeback win over the Miami Heat. That win bumped them back to the 21st pick, conveying the selection to the Sixers. That pick ended up being a guard out of Kentucky that has massively changed the trajectory of the franchise.

Maxey said that one of the Sixers' security personnel reminds him of the shot “at least, I don't know, twice a month” and acknowledged how it helped get him to a team with which he has blossomed into a star.

“Shoutout to Mike,” Tyrese Maxey said. “I like being here.”