MIAMI — The Philadelphia 76ers disposed of the Toronto Raptors in Game 6 on Thursday and now turn their attention to the Miami Heat. Even though the Sixers held a 3-0 lead in the series with the Raptors, they were pushed. Toronto rallied to make it a series.
Tyrese Maxey was challenged by the Raptors and the length they had every time he tried to attack on the offensive end. Across the six games, Maxey averaged 21.3 points and he shot 51.1% from the floor and 40.5% from deep. Those are impressive numbers.
However, in the middle three games of that series, Maxey averaged only 14 points and he shot only 38.6% from the floor and 18.2% from deep. The Raptors gave him fits and that experience can help prepare him for the rest of this playoff run.
“Defensively, they are an extremely talented team,” Maxey said of the Raptors. “They can switch 1 through 5 with a lot of different like-sized guys who can all defend so I think it just got us ready. They packed the paint as well so it seems crowded every time that you’re looking at it and I think that Miami plays a similar way.”
For the Sixers, this is still more about them than anything external when it comes to Maxey. They have to get him the ball in space and allow him to go downhill. That is when he is at his best because of his speed.
“Obviously, Miami doesn’t have the size as Toronto as far as each guy switching,” said coach Doc Rivers. “Same kind of toughness. Both have toughness, but I thought Tyrese — he started out great, obviously — but again, I thought it was as much as them with Tyrese. We gotta keep him involved and we gotta have that in our minds when we’re on the floor, and I thought we did a better job the last game.”
With Joel Embiid sidelined, the Sixers will rely on Maxey to score more and produce on the offensive end. The young man has never been afraid of a challenge. As he heads into this series, he feels he is ready to go.
“I always say I’m adaptable,” said Maxey. “I’ve been saying it since the year started and I just do whatever they ask me to do. If they ask me to play more or do more offensively, do more defensively, then that’s what I’m gonna try to do.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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