The 76ers must play with a sense of urgency against bad and/or undermanned teams.
Tyrese Maxey is a newly minted Eastern Conference NBA All-Star starter. But the Sixers point guard, and coach Nick Nurse, believe he has more to give.
And the Sixers need more production from their bench.
These things stood out in Monday’s 113-104 victory over the Indiana Pacers at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Maxey and Joel Embiid’s play, especially late in the game, enabled the Sixers (23-18) to avoid an embarrassing loss to the Pacers (10-34).
Maxey scored 14 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder also had four assists and four steals while playing 10 minutes, 35 seconds in the quarter.
In the quarter, Maxey was able to get to the paint more frequently and finish at the rim.
“We kind of opened the court up a little bit,” he said. “Me and Joel didn’t play a lot of two-man game. So it’s kind of like just getting him the ball, coming off screens, and doing that.”
But before Embiid reentered the game with 5:01 remaining, Maxey was paired with Quentin Grimes, Jabari Walker, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Adem Bona.
“And with that unit, I know I have to be ultra-aggressive for myself, for my teammates as well, getting to the paint, kicking it out, generating threes. That’s what I tried to do. Got a couple of corner threes with that group, and that’s good offense for us.”
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For the game, Maxey made 12 of 24 shots to go with eight assists, four rebounds, a career-high eight steals, and one block.
“I was just trying to be aggressive, you know, make plays for my teammates,” Maxey said of his steals. “I think it gets us going when we get out in the open court [after stealing the ball] and get some easy baskets.”
Meanwhile, Embiid scored nine of his 30 points in the fourth quarter. The center also finished with nine rebounds and four assists.
But it was like the Sixers fell into a deep slumber against the Pacers before they took over.
At the start of the game, they looked like a well-oiled machine.
Embiid had 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting. Oubre, who started in place of Paul George, had six points on 3-for-3 shooting. And Dominick Barlow had the other two points on 1-for-2 shooting, as the Sixers had an 18-15 lead with 6:19 remaining in the first quarter. They had made 9 of 12 shots at the time.
They couldn’t shake the Pacers and clung to a 33-30 lead heading into the second quarter. And things only got worse for the Sixers in the second. They shot 26.3% and trailed by as many as 10 points against the NBA’s second-worst team. Much of the defending Eastern Conference champions’ struggles are down to injuries.
On Monday, they were without Tyrese Haliburton (right Achilles tendon tear), Bennedict Mathurin (sprained right thumb), and Obi Toppin (right foot stress fracture).
The Sixers struggled through 3-for-13 three-point shooting over the first three quarters. They ended up making 5 of 17.
But struggling against an undermanned squad isn’t uncommon.
On Jan. 5, they put forth an inexcusable effort against a Denver Nuggets team playing without its entire starting lineup and three key reserves.
This time, the Sixers woke up from their slumber and escaped with a nine-point victory. But they need to do a better job of putting teams away that have no business competing with them.
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Maxey impacted the game in many ways on Monday. But the belief is that the sixth-year veteran is just scratching the surface.
“I think I’m most definitely nowhere close to where I could be, as far as basketball-wise,” Maxey said. “I feel like I can keep getting better. And my thing is I just want to be better. You know what I’m saying, for my teammates, for this organization, my family. And I know I have a coach, an organization, and teammates who believe in me. And when you have that, it kind of pushes you to be even better than what you are.”
Right now, he must do a better job of adjusting when teams trap him. But Maxey is most proud of his leadership and the strides he’s made on defense. He was a good defender growing up. But he’s found that the transition to the NBA has been more challenging.
“I feel like I figured it out a little bit on how to be impactful,” he said, “and impact the game on the [defensive] end of the floor.”
But even though he needs to regain his rhythm, Maxey is in the midst of a career season.
He is third in the league in scoring (30.2 points per game), second in steals (2.1), and 15th in assists (6.7). He is also fourth in made three-pointers (140), and has scored at least 30 points in 19 of 39 games.
“We’re trying to give him every opportunity to be aggressive and go do his thing,” Nurse said. “And he’s very talented. And I keep saying there’s still a lot of room for growth, which I think is exciting.”
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The Sixers were outscored 35-14 in bench points, and even that was misleading. They only had eight heading into the fourth quarter.
Grimes had five points on 1-for-7 shooting. Walker had five while making 2 of 5 shots. He was, by far, the most productive reserve, finishing with six rebounds and four steals. Bona (two points, 1-for-2 shooting) and Trendon Watford (two points, 1-for-4 shooting) were the other bench scorers.
Justin Edwards and Jared McCain didn’t attempt a shot after playing only the final 47 seconds. But the Sixers must get more production out of their bench if they expect to remain competitive.
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