The NBA’s hardest working player set a new career high on Thursday night, as Tyrese Maxey poured in 54 points in his team’s 123-114 OT win over Milwaukee.
Maxey, who entered the contest averaging a league high 40.3 minutes per game, added 9 assists for good measure to help Philadelphia move to 9-6 on the year. The 25 year old now sits 2nd in the league in scoring on the year, averaging 33.4pts per contest. The Sixers guard trails only Luka Doncic (34.6ppg) for the league lead.
“He’s special,” teammate Paul George said. “He’s gifted. I think what you guys don’t see and what stands out is after the game, on a back-to-back, 50, 45-plus minutes, he goes and lifts. That just speaks volumes to who he is, why he’s where he’s at. I’ve been around a lot of great guys in this league. That’s what they do. They do the stuff like that keeps them going, keeps them strong, always working on themselves.”
Overall, Maxey would go 18-30, and 6 of 15 from 3 point range. His 12 free throws made (on 14 attempts) were enough to help the team force overtime and ultimately secure the win, hitting timely shots from the charity stripe down the line.
Philadelphia once again finds themselves without star centre Joel Embiid who missed his 6th straight game due to a knee injury on Thursday, while George has played just 2 games this year after recovering from offseason knee surgery. In their absence, the 76ers have leaned heavily on Maxey, Quentin Grimes, and rookie VJ Edgecombe.
Despite taking some bumps earlier in the week against Toronto, the former Kentucky Wildcat was able to continue playing at his usual up tempo pace on Thursday. No small feat considering he was listed as questionable heading into the contest.
“I don’t really care,” Maxey said. “I just want to win. If I have to play however much I have to play to win, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
Up next for Philadelphia is a home contest against the Miami Heat. They’ll then have back to back NBA Cup group stage games vs. the Orlando Magic, and Brooklyn Nets to close out the month.
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