The Philadelphia 76ers welcomed back their starting point guard on Thursday night after missing two games with a left quad contusion. The only thing is, he didn’t start against the Atlanta Hawks in his return.
Tyrese Maxey returned, but he came off the bench and he had 17 points in a 98-96 loss to the Hawks. The Sixers could have used his scoring ability in the first quarter when they were outscored 32-13 in the opening minutes and they couldn’t catch a rhythm.
Maxey entered the game in the first quarter and he added nine points and he got the Sixers to within 32-18 after one quarter. He had half of their points so it would have been helpful to have him start the game, but coach Doc Rivers didn’t go that way.
“Because he had just one day,” said Rivers. “We couldn’t practice yesterday. Furk’s (Korkmaz) not gonna handle the ball a lot. I thought we had a rhythm so we just went that way.”
Maxey did admit that he is still feeling the effects of his injury, but overall, he feels fine.
“My body feels good,” said Maxey. “A little sore, but it is what it is.”
The second-year guard came off the bench a lot in his rookie season obviously with Ben Simmons around so coming off the bench is nothing new for him. The approach doesn’t change compared to him starting.
“Same approach,” said Maxey. “Coach Sam (Cassell) and Coach Doc told me this morning in shootaround. You keep the same mindset. I do whatever it takes to help us win the game. That’s all I care about. It doesn’t matter if I come off the bench. It doesn’t matter if I start. I just want to try to go out there and do my best and help my team win.”
The Sixers will look to bounce back on Sunday against the Washington Wizards.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[listicle id=56169]
[lawrence-related id=56260,56250,56247]