DETROIT — The Philadelphia 76ers needed others to step up on Sunday when visited Little Caesars Arena to take on the Detroit Pistons. The Sixers were missing both Joel Embiid and PJ Tucker due to injuries.
Philadelphia received a big night out of James Harden who had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, and Montrezl Harrell added 20 points and six rebounds. But Tyrese Maxey led the way with 23 points. That effort allowed the Sixers to get an easy win over the Pistons. They led by as many as 23.
As he continues to work his way back after missing 18 games due to a left foot fracture, Maxey is looking better by the game.
“Just being aggressive and he did that,” said James Harden. “I got on him a little bit because he had zero rebounds and one assist (he actually had two). I tell him he’s a much better player. Obviously, scoring, we all know he can score, but you got to find ways to impact the game. So just conversations we’re keeping in his mind so he can always think about that throughout the course of games.”
The thing with Maxey is always his rhythm. He flies to the basket when he gets the chance and he has to find that rhythm and timing again. Sunday was another example of that for him.
“Just his rhythm, his flow, obviously with not having a restriction, and things like that, he’s gonna be able to get more of a flow towards the game,” added Tobias Harris. “He’s doing great. Just embracing that and then also just getting his legs back under him and his wind.”
Maxey had a big burst in the third quarter on Sunday when the Pistons made one last charge. With Philadelphia up by a big margin, Detroit pulled within 12. Maxey scored seven straight to end the third, and the Pistons never threatened again.
“That was the fastest he’s played,” said coach Doc Rivers. “He had four or five bursts to the rim late. I thought the end of the third quarter was huge because they cut it to like 12 and we got it back to 20 and a lot of that was from his paces and his attacks.”
[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f5k5xtr64thj7fw2 image=]
[listicle id=73459]
[lawrence-related id=73462,73453,73423]