Sixers Tyrese Maxey is showing signs of regaining speed and rhythm

After the Philadelphia 76ers’ comfortable win in Detroit on Sunday, coach Doc Rivers told reporters that it was the fastest Tyrese Maxey has played since returning from a left foot injury nine days ago.

For a player whose value relies on his speed, this qualifies as a positive development for the Sixers. And there was a standout stretch in Detroit that showcased Maxey’s speed, as the third-year guard singlehandedly turned a 13-point lead into an 18-point one in the last minute of the fourth quarter.

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It started with a transition attack with Maxey finishing through contact for a 3-point play.

Then Maxey attacked a switch in a Spain pick-and-roll set (a pick-and-roll followed by a back screen), finishing with his left hand at the basket.

And to close out the quarter, Maxey stopped on a dime and hit a pull-up elbow jumper over Killian Hayes.

Maxey finished the Sixers’ relatively stress-free 123-111 victory in Detroit with 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting. He struggled from the 3-point line, going just 2 of 9 by missing short on a bunch of his looks. This didn’t feel like a breakout performance more than a normal, expected effort from the Sixers’ speedy combo guard. The breakout, if there was one, probably came Friday against Chicago.

“It’s back to me,” Rivers said of Maxey’s burst after Friday’s loss. “More important, the shot is back. And I think his shot sets up everything else for him. So, I think Tyrese is good to go.”

Maxey’s 26-point performance against Chicago went under the radar because Zach LaVine and the Bulls had the Sixers under siege. But Maxey being “good to go” increases the Sixers’ margin for error in games like the one in Detroit on Sunday. The Pistons have the league’s worst record but the Sixers were without Joel Embiid (left foot soreness) for a third consecutive game. Another starter, P.J. Tucker, also was out due to a non-COVID-19 illness. It’s the type of game that the team still internally expects to win but that requires the team’s other star players to produce.

James Harden looked the part, bouncing back from a rough performance against the Bulls. Harden, who tortured the Pistons early and often by running pick-and-rolls with Montrezl Harrell, was one assist shy of a triple-double at halftime. He finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, and most importantly, only played 28 minutes since the Sixers built enough of a working margin in the second half.

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Maxey and Tobias Harris are next on the pecking order. Maxey said he wants to figure out how to “fit in into the offense without messing up flow.” But Harden, who understands Maxey’s importance to the team, disagreed with his running mate.

“He doesn’t need to worry about that. He just needs to worry about just him playing well,” Harden said on Friday. “I keep saying, every game he’s going to continue to get better. He did an unbelievable job tonight of just being Tyrese. And that’s what we’re going to expect every game.”

While Maxey looked notably rusty in the week since returning, there was a legitimate reason for that. This was his first extended absence in the NBA. As a rookie, he was on the fringes of the rotation. And last season, as he established himself as one of the league’s up-and-coming young guards, he appeared in 75 games.

Maxey said that the six weeks he missed due to a fracture in his left foot was the longest amount of time he has missed in the middle of any season. Maxey admitted that he forgot how hard it was to play in an NBA game.

“These are the best players in the world,” Maxey said. “So, it’s extremely hard to get a rhythm and get to your spots because, you know, guys are good. So, I think that was my biggest thing and trying to get rid of them and try to flow and catch right into what the team has been doing.”

For Maxey, a gym rat who was forced to sit and watch for multiple weeks after suffering the injury against Milwaukee, the idea of playing in rhythm is just as important as his speed. In his first two games back, both against New Orleans, Maxey drove into defenders or made the wrong reads.

Fast forward a few days later, and the rhythm has returned. Maxey finished with six assists against Chicago, and this skip pass to Shake Milton was something he didn’t have the timing to pull off just a week before.

Maxey is one of the league’s fastest players from end to end. But for him to return to a high level, he needs to get live reps against NBA competition.

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“You can play against coaches and player development (practices) all day long, but (at the) end of the day, they’re not in the NBA,” Maxey said. “So it’s like, they help, but playing against the real NBA players is extremely hard. It’s the physical and then the rhythm. That’s it. I’m still trying to get it back.”

There is a common phrase and methodology that Rivers uses to gauge Maxey’s play: “getting his fingernails on the backboard.” That means Maxey is driving to the rim and putting pressure on defenses with his speed. And while that still isn’t happening frequently, Maxey is starting to turn on the jets.

The Sixers are 24-15 on the season. Maxey has missed six weeks, Harden has missed a month and Embiid has missed a combined three weeks during that time. It’s not how the Sixers drew it up, but how all these players regain their form has been a major storyline in the first half of the season.

“It’s difficult, but it’s a beautiful thing to be back out there with my teammates and trying to help them win games,” Maxey said.

(Photo of Tyrese Maxey: Brian Sevald / NBAE via Getty Images)

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