Tyrese Maxey's breakout season appears to be here. The Philadelphia 76ers guard has had a spectacular start to the 2023-24 season and played a pivotal role in the Sixers' first win of the season, a 114-107 conquest over the Toronto Raptors.

After dicing up the Raptors with 34 points and seven assists, Maxey's All-Star potential is apparent and he's gaining greater chemistry with Joel Embiid. He's doing a lot of things right to start off the season.

“He's shooting the ball well and deep, creating space,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said in his postgame media availability. “He's creating some contact finishing at the rim. Obviously…he's getting his chances to get assists but he's also taking care of the ball…So he did a good job, I thought, of organizing a little bit better tonight. I gotta watch the tape but he played great, played awesome.”

Maxey has started off his season with some incredible performances, achieving a feat only three other players have done in Sixers history. Despite starting off slowly in the opening quarter of each game so far this season, Maxey has been a nightmare to (try to) contain for opposing defenses. Being super fast and a great shooter is tough enough. Now that he's changing up his speeds, using screens and making plays for others when defenses key in on him, defenses — good ones, at that — are being pushed to their limits.

With James Harden missing games as he ramps back up into playing shape and eventually after getting traded at some point, Maxey is being tasked with igniting more offense for the Sixers. Nurse, who witnessed a Maxey heater in Toronto last season when he scored a career-high 44 points, recognizes that now is the time for his budding star to keep his foot on the gas.

“You've heard me say this: this is the golden opportunity for him. It seemed like he had 30 points every time we played him when I was coaching against them. So it's nice to see him continue that with me around,” Nurse said. “He's really amazing. And he's still got to be 25 percent more aggressive.”

The Sixers continue to tell Maxey that they want him to be aggressive. It's been a constant ringing in his ear over the last few seasons. Even as he takes on a bigger role in the offense, Nurse is pushing him to be even better. There aren’t many better testaments to a player's talent than that.

Part of the reason the Sixers are pushing Maxey to do more is because the roster has very few avenues for reliable shot creation. But they’re not just sticking him with the grunt work because he's a guard or because he's the most willing. His coaches and teammates know his talent and work ethic are built to withstand the challenge. So far, though, it hasn’t looked all that hard for him.