The Philadelphia 76ers began a quick two-game road trip on Thursday while being down so many big players. Philadelphia is still missing Ben Simmons, but they entered the Motor City still missing Danny Green and Tobias Harris before they ended up losing Isaiah Joe and Furkan Korkmaz as well.
On his 21st birthday, Tyrese Maxey stepped up and had 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting with five assists to help Philadelphia pick up the win over the Detroit Pistons 109-98. Maxey also knocked down two of his four triples and he only had one turnover.
“He was great,” said coach Doc Rivers. “He looked at me and I’m like ‘What’re you looking at me for? I don’t have anybody’. You’re the youngest, it’s his birthday today, I figured use it and so he did.”
Maxey is still a work in progress, but considering he is only in his second season and Thursday was only his ninth game as the team’s starting point guard, it was an encouraging game for the rest of the team to see.
“He’s been good” acknowledged Seth Curry. “He’s been getting better every game, especially as a point guard handling the ball, getting into sets, and getting specific people the ball in their spots, and picking his time to attack and get to the rim and create for himself.”
Rivers has been wanting Maxey to take control of the offense more and be able to lead the team that way. It is important for him to take the offense into his own hands and be able to be the leader of this team. He needs to be the one in control and not let the veterans tell him where the ball needs to go.
“It’s a grind,” said Maxey. “It’s a process, too. Day by day it’s gonna get better and better. I’m trying to do better. He wants me to be more demanding. He feels like I defer too much. It gets tough, but my teammates are trusting me more every single game so as long as I have their trust and they have my back, it’s gonna be all good.”
As Maxey stated, the Sixers do have confidence in him to be able to step up and be the leader for this team on the offensive end of the floor. Thursday was another good example of that.
“He’s been growing a lot, he’s been learning,” Curry added with a smile “Coach is tough on him. I know at times a lot of us veterans are tough on him, yelling at him, trying to get the ball, or expecting a lot out of him, but he’s taking it in strides, not complaining about it, and he’s putting in the work. He’s competing and I’m glad he’s rolling with us.”
Maxey and the Sixers will now move on to face the Chicago Bulls on Saturday to wrap up the road trip.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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