PHILADELPHIA — Tyrese Maxey played one of his best-ever games to lead the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 2 against the Brooklyn Nets. Behind his incredible shooting and defense, the Sixers went up 2-0 in the first round.
Maxey etched his name in Allen Iverson territory as he recorded 33 points on 13-23 shooting from the field and 6-13 shooting from beyond the arc. When the Sixers stuck Maxey and Tobias Harris at the top of a zone defense to start the second half, it changed the game. He explained what goes into that scheme following the game.
“Well, thankfully, we’ve worked on it all year,” Maxey said. “Whether it was practice or shootaround or even in the game, we kind of know the spots of it. And then the biggest thing behind us is because we can’t see behind us, P.J. [Tucker] and James [Harden] and Jo [Joel Embiid] and J-Mac [Jalen McDaniels], whoever’s in the game, that communication is a big part of that.
“So, I mean, it’s not us really communicating. It’s them telling us where we’re going and us being on a string and I think it’s been great, though,” the Sixers guard continued. “That was a good wrinkle that we were able to throw it in there and kudos to our coaching staff for helping us prepare for it.”
Maxey and Harris moving their feet and staying active gunked up the Nets’ offense and sparked a Sixers run that featured a breakaway slam from Harris. Cam Johnson had 22 points at halftime but was not nearly as impactful in the second half. That has been the key for the Sixers so far in this series: halftime tweaks that inject them with energy and allow them to get ahead.
Aside from one play where Cam Johnson dunked right on him, Joel Embiid defended the rim very well. He was surprised to find out that he only had three blocks on the night and joked that he needed the Memphis Grizzlies’ scorekeeper to boost his numbers. Overall, the Sixers defense has been there for them through these first two games. They’ll need their offense to catch up to make things easier.
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