Tyrese Maxey makes big-time plays as Sixers narrowly avoid elimination

The Philadelphia 76ers were down double figures early against the Atlanta Hawks in a win-or-go-home game. After losing Game 5 in stunning fashion after being up 22 at half, the Sixers had to win.

They did, and they were helped by the contributions of a few surprising second-unit players.

One of those players that stepped up in a big way was rookie Tyrese Maxey, who scored 16 points and hit several late-game free throws to keep Atlanta two possessions away from tying the game. He ended 5/8 from the line.

Arguably his biggest contribution to the game was a rebound he snagged and got to Joel Embiid while falling down. That was with about 90 seconds left when the Sixers were up just 3, allowing them to push the league to 4 the very next possession.

Maxey played the most minutes (29) off the bench. After Tobias Harris, Joel Embiid and Seth Curry, Maxey comes in as the Sixers top scorer, totaling 16. The three listed above went for 24, 22, and 24 respectively.

Maxey would’ve neared the 20-point club as well had a made three-pointer counted, but the refs ruled it off after Dwight Howard and Lou Williams got into it apparently before he entered his upward shooting motion.

Regardless of that play, Maxey thrived as the scoring option off the bench and earned himself important minutes down the stretch. After this performance, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Doc Rivers go to him more in Game 7.

With Danny Green still out, pushing Furkan Korkmaz into the starting unit, bench minutes have freed up. They’re Maxey’s to claim, and given his latest hot stretch, I’d expect him to see at least 2 quarters of play on Sunday.

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