Tyrese Maxey discusses his big offensive night in Game 2 loss to Heat

MIAMI — On an overall frustrating night for the Philadelphia 76ers, they were able to get one bright spot in the form of Tyrese Maxey.

In Philadelphia’s Game 2 loss to the Miami Heat on the road, Maxey poured in 34 points and he really kept Philadelphia in the game when it looked like the Heat were going to pull away and make the game a blowout.

Buy 76ers Tickets

He scored 23 points after halftime and he really gave the Sixers a spark. Obviously, it didn’t result in a win, but this is the type of game that can give Maxey some confidence going forward as the series now shifts to Philadelphia for Game 3.

“I just tried to be aggressive,” said Maxey. “I was settling way too much the last two games and they switch and I was backing it up, just get downhill and make a play for myself or one of my teammates. I kinda figured that out late second and I kinda just ran with it.”

The young guard was right in his assessment. There were too many times where he was settling for a pull-up 3-pointer or a mid-range jumper when he could easily get to the rim and make plays for himself and others.

“Maxey had 34 points, but I didn’t like how he played in the first half,” said coach Doc Rivers. “In the second half, he finally got it going. We got him in the right spots. The double-drag down the stretch was good for us. I thought him and James (Harden) had a good tandem going for a while.”

Maxey agreed with Rivers’ assessment that he was being too passive in the first half of this one.

“He talked to me a little bit,” said Maxey. “He told me to just quit settling. I settled for some tough shots that I didn’t need to settle for and once I figured it out that I could get into the paint on almost every single play, it’s not always gonna be for myself to score. Most of the time, it’s gonna be me kicking it out and getting guys shots.”

The Heat shaded a ton of defenders towards Harden so at that point, others have to step up and Maxey did so in a big way on Wednesday.

“Just be aggressive,” Harden said of Maxey. “They’re denying me, they’re drawing attention on me. He sees gaps, he is very quick, he is able to get to the basket, and make the right play. We are going to need that and he has done a really good job of that. We’re gonna need it to continue.”

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!