Tyrese Maxey has gotten plenty of chances this season to lead the Philadelphia 76ers with Joel Embiid out. Sometimes the results have been good but more often than not, Maxey wasn’t able to step up enough to get the Sixers a win without his co-star. The biggest example of that was on Christmas against the Miami Heat. His gift for his efforts was a stern challenge from Patrick Beverley.

Stepping up without Embiid and no other consistent ball-handler is, in fairness, a very tough task. Maxey was not up for it against Miami, as he had an atrocious shooting night in a loss. Despite efficient scoring games from Tobias Harris (27 points on 10-18 shooting) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (25 points on 9-16 shooting), Maxey's 4-20 shooting from the field held Philly back as a career game from Jaime Jaquez Jr. and strong Bam Adebayo game led Miami to victory.

Maxey said on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast (around the 28:00 mark) that Beverley got brutally honest with him about needing to be better when Embiid is out.

“You know what, nobody gonna say it. Everybody gonna say, oh, ‘Tyrese, it's okay, it's okay,’ cause you played bad…F it, I'm gonna say it: you gotta pick it up without Joel. Everybody kiss your back, everybody tell you how you great you are,” Beverley said, per Maxey's recollection.

“And I said, ‘You know what OG? I got you,’” Maxey continued. “Next two games, we win. Next two games, I play well — go to the H, have 40. He was like, ‘That's all I wanted to see. I know you got it. I know you did it before but everybody's gonna say it's okay. But I gotta be the bad guy.’”

Patrick Beverley has made a name for himself by being brash and talking trash to anyone in his way. But he can also use that competitive fire to inspire his teammates and lead the way energy-wise. The Sixers — and their fans — have greatly enjoyed having him in Philly.

Tyrese Maxey's 42-point game against the Houston Rockets was one of his very best individual games and the biggest proof that he has the talent to lead wins when Embiid is out. He's going to have to hone in on Beverley's message in future games where the big man isn’t playing.