Tyrese Maxey’s 54-point epic lifts depleted Sixers over Bucks

Tyrese Maxey is carrying much work than astir anyone successful the NBA close now, and helium is turning it into history. Already starring the league successful minutes, helium poured successful a career-high 54 points with 9 assists implicit 46½ minutes successful Philadelphia’s 123-114 overtime triumph implicit the Milwaukee Bucks. According to Elias Sports Bureau, lone Maxey and Wilt Chamberlain person ever posted astatine slightest 50 points and 9 assists successful a crippled for the 76ers.

“Blessed,” Maxey said. “I convey God for it. Any clip you're successful a speech with Wilt, who scored 100 points, you can't complain.”

He did this 1 nighttime aft logging 39 minutes successful a nonaccomplishment to the Toronto Raptors, astatine a clip erstwhile the Sixers are missing 2023 MVP Joel Embiid and easing six-time All-NBA helping Paul George backmost from genu surgery. Philadelphia sits supra .500 mostly due to the fact that Maxey is averaging 33.4 points, 2nd successful the league down Luka Doncic.

Work ethic and minutes load specify his season

Inside the locker room, teammates constituent to what helium does erstwhile the cameras are gone. “He's special,” George said. “He's gifted. I deliberation what you guys don't spot and what stands retired is aft the game, connected a back-to-back, 50, 45-plus minutes, helium goes and lifts. That conscionable speaks volumes to who helium is, wherefore he's wherever he's at. I've been astir a batch of large guys successful this league. That's what they do. They bash the worldly similar that keeps them going, keeps them strong, ever moving connected themselves.”

Maxey’s grind sharpened during past season’s setback, erstwhile a digit wounded constricted him to 52 games. He says helium spent the offseason buried successful film, and present his aggression seldom dips. After feeling helium settled for 24 points connected conscionable 14 shots against Toronto, helium admitted, “I decidedly was not arsenic assertive arsenic I should person been,” adding, “I got deed successful the caput and I besides got deed successful the quad, truthful it was a small pugnacious for me.”

Pushing done symptom and refusing to beryllium down

There was nary warrant helium would adjacent suit up against Milwaukee aft that bruised quadriceps. He woke up, got treatment, and told himself that if helium could run, helium would go. Once the crippled turned, helium would not travel out. “We usually person a small treatment determination to commencement the fourth,” 76ers manager Nick Nurse said. “He didn't privation to person the treatment tonight. He wanted to enactment in.”

Maxey rewarded that spot by attacking the Bucks’ portion and utilizing it to conserve conscionable capable energy. “I didn't person to determination excessively overmuch oregon enactment excessively hard to people oregon get the shot connected offense, truthful I deliberation I didn't consciousness bushed conscionable due to the fact that of that,” Maxey said. “The portion slowed the crippled down and benignant of took accent disconnected the body. I was like, 'Listen, I'm good. If you privation maine to stay, I tin stay.' He fto maine stay, truthful I finished the game.”

His mindset is simple, adjacent if his workload is thing but. “I don't truly care,” Maxey said. “I conscionable privation to win. If I person to play nevertheless overmuch I person to play to win, past that's what I'm going to do.”