PHILADELPHIA — The focus after the Philadelphia 76ers’ 127-113 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves is going to be on Joel Embiid. The reigning league MVP dropped 51 points and 12 rebounds, the latest effort in an historic run that doesn’t look like it is going to end soon.
However, as amazing as Embiid was, he can’t do it alone. He needed help, and that’s where Tyrese Maxey came in.
Maxey had a terrific night himself, scoring 35 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter when Philadephia needed them. He shot 6-for-10 in the final frame with the Sixers locked in a tight battle.
“He’s been doing it all season,” Embiid said. “That’s our guy. Fourth quarter we know where the ball’s gonna go. We’re gonna go to Tyrese. He plays the full quarter so he gets hot. He’s been carrying us all season long in the fourth quarter so we just know we just gotta give him the ball and get the ball in his hands.”
Maxey has been terrific all season, and Wednesday was just another example. With All-Star voting underway in the NBA, Embiid had a proclamation when concerning his young teammate.
“I don’t think it’s a question,” Embiid added. “He should be — I know there’s not much of a difference, but being a starter is a little different than being an All-Star. He should definitely be a starter. He’s been consistent all season, carrying us, doing whatever it takes, and we’re winning so that counts for something. I think he deserves to be an All-Star, especially a starter.”
What made Maxey’s performance more impressive was the fact it came against this Timberwolves squad. It is the No. 1 team in the league and has the best defense. Maxey battled Jaden McDaniels, Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley and Anthony Edwards, and he continued to make adjustments to make tough finishes look easy.
“Extremely creative, I guess,” Maxey said. “I mean he’s (McDaniels) a really great defender. He’s been like that since we were young. What he does defensively is special I feel like, and then offensively he brings pretty good shooting as well and he can attack off the dribble so kudos to him, but we’re just out there trying to be aggressive. Find different ways to attack, not just him, but they have Rudy out there, Ant, they have some really good defenders.”
The Sixers move on to host the Toronto Raptors on Friday.
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