PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers have a superstar duo in the form of Joel Embiid and James Harden which makes them a dangerous group going forward in these playoffs.
However, if Tyrese Maxey is going to have big games as he did in a Game 1 win over the Toronto Raptors, then they are going to be even tougher to stop.
Maxey had 38 points on 14-for-21 shooting and he knocked down five triples in the win. The second-year guard out of Kentucky had a ridiculous 21 points on 7-for-8 shooting in the third quarter alone in order to help the Sixers hold off a Raptors run and get the job done.
Afterward, his teammates reacted to his big game:
James Harden
“I saw growth. From being up and down and not really having consistent minutes last year in the postseason to starting and having a huge role on a championship-contending team, he just was calm out there, he took his shots when they were open, he took his shots when they were open, he took his attacks when they were available, and he just made the play, man, which he does. Since I’ve been here, I saw that. Tonight was no different. He just took his shots and he was ultra-confident. That’s what we’ll need going forward.”
Joel Embiid
“It’s great. Like I’ve been saying, we’re gonna need everybody so I’m happy that he played so well tonight. He’s been doing that all season. It’s only one game so we need to do it three more times.”
Doc Rivers
“He was huge. He made one huge 3, but again, coming out of the third, the way we came out, I didn’t like. We started getting late in the clock, we had a couple turnovers. We left (Gary) Trent who’s a pretty good shooter twice in that little stretch so there’s things we can get better at.”
More Rivers
“He just doesn’t play with anxiety. That’s why you love him. There’s certain players like that. There’s not a lot that ruffles him. He got hit hard by an elbow today. I don’t know why he tried to fight that guy, I don’t think that would have gone…