Tyrese’s Maxey-mum help on Young helps Sixers survive

On a night when Atlanta guard Trae Young was nearly unstoppable, Tyrese Maxey stole the show and kept the Sixers alive in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The little-used rookie guard out of Kentucky came off the bench and scored a playoff career-high 16 points to help the Sixers stave off elimination with a 104-99 victory over the Hawks Friday night at State Farm Arena. Game 7 is Sunday night at Wells Fargo Center.

Guard Seth Curry had another big game. He followed up his career playoff high 36-point effort in Game 5 with 24 points and was 6-for-9 from 3-point range. Tobias Harris bounced back from a poor performance in Game 5 with 24 points. Joel Embiid added 22 points and 13 rebounds. But the pending, winner-take-all Sunday night showdown would not have been possible without Maxey, who played a total of 22 minutes and 53 seconds in the first five games of the series and just 1:20 in the Game 5 debacle where the Sixers blew a 26-point, second-half lead.

Maxey played 29:28 in Game 6, shot 5-for-12 from the field, 1-for-2 from 3-point land, 5-for-8 from the free throw line, grabbed seven rebounds, handed out one assist, made one steal and one block. Maxey’s previous playoff best was 15 points in Game 4 of the first-round series against the Washington Wizards.

“I talked to him this morning and I told him a lie, that he was going to be the first guy off the bench,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said. “We were going to go with a different group and then the fouls killed us, actually, early on. Out of respect for the game we needed him on the floor with Ben (Simmons) because we needed another ball-handler.”

Maxey was pressed into service when Simmons got in early foul trouble and made the most of the opportunity. He scored nine points in the first half to keep the Sixers within striking distance after a slow start.

“I’ve been saying all year, I have to be ready for whatever the coaching staff wants me to do,” Maxey said.

He was ready.

“I’ve said all year, proper preparation prevents poor performance,” Maxey added. “My dad told me that when I was like, in second grade, and I’ll never forget it. … Once you prepare properly you build your own confidence and I think that’s how you become successful.”  

Thanks to Maxey, Harris, Curry, Embiid and a ramped up defensive effort, the Sixers were within 51-47 at the break. Harris overcame early foul trouble to score 12 of his points in the second quarter. Curry and Embiid chipped in with eight points apiece.

Rivers would call on Maxey again in the third quarter and the first-round pick came through again. With the Sixers clinging to an 81-78 lead, he hit back-to-back 3-pointers in a 23-second span to stretch the lead to 87-78.

Rivers went to Maxey again when the Hawks decided to employ their Hack-a-Ben strategy on Simmons, who has been awful from the line in the playoffs. Simmons did hit 2 of 4, but that was not enough for Rivers to keep Simmons in the game and he brought Maxey back in with 6:04 to play.

Simmons would return with 1:59 to play, but for George Hill, not Maxey. The move paid off. Maxey grabbed a defensive rebound off a Young miss that led to an Embiid free throw, then hit the back end of a two-shot foul with 27.2 seconds left to stretch the lead to 98-93. Maxey was equal to the task again when he hit a pair of foul shots with 18.8 ticks left to increase the lead to 100-95.

Harris hit four free throws in the final 13.3 seconds to seal the victory and keep the Sixers alive.

Maxey was also key to the defensive effort on Young, who finished with 34 points and 12 assists, but had just 14 points and five assists after the break.

“Tyrese did a phenomenal job,” Rivers said. “I actually thought that other than Ben, Tyrese did the best job on Young because of his speed. … People are going to talk about his offense but I thought this was the best defensive night of the season for him. (I’m) just really proud of him.”