Tyrese Maxey was on a tear in in Game 1 against the Toronto Raptors, posting 38 points on 81.9% shooting, making him the youngest player to ever score 30+ points in a playoff game for the Sixers at the age of 21. Whether it was on or off the ball, it didn't matter as Maxey was hot from tip-off.
Getting To The Rim With Ease
Tyrese Maxey caused havoc for the Toronto Raptors defense on Saturday night as no Raptors player could keep in front of him. With the help of screens, Maxey generated easy points on the board as help-side defenses were late to reacting the quick vertical speed of Maxey.
Tyrese Maxey handling the ball at halfcourt with Fred VanVleet guarding him; Maxey beats Fred off the dribble with ease and the help of Joel Embiid screening eliminates any help coming at Maxey.
Tyrese Maxey coming off a double ball-screen where Paul Reed makes contact with Gary Trent Jr. to anticipate a screen coming, slips it and forces Precious to rotate giving Maxey a lane to attack off of, Gary Trent Jr. was unable to keep up with Maxey on his feet and the lack of help-defense from Chris Boucher led to an easy two for Maxey.
Simple ball-screen from Embiid which frees up Maxey space to attack off of. OG comes in late to help at the nail and Maxey attacks downhill taking advantage of the "no big" lineup for the Toronto Raptors and floats it in for two.
Attacking Off The Catch
Since the James Harden trade, Maxey was able to lay back and not have much point-guard duties. This idea was great for Tyrese Maxey as he does not have elite point-guard skills to operate as a point guard. Tyrese Maxey being able to feed off James Harden and Joel Embiid gravity created disaster for defenses.
Tyrese Maxey pre-Harden:
Touches: 83.7
Frontcourt touches: 32.4
Time of possession: 6.4 sec.
Average second per touch: 4.62
Tyrese Maxey post-Harden:
Touches: 65.5
Frontcourt touches: 29.3
Time of possession: 4.3 sec.
Average second per touch: 3,92
Tyrese Maxey is one of the best at attacking off closeouts, his straight-line speed to get past defenders and forcing rotations creates a whole another dimension for the Philadelphia 76ers offense.
Raptors switch Fred/OG on the Harden/Embiid Pick N Roll and tried to pre-switch Barnes on Embiid and Fred on Maxey. Harden notices it and fires off a pass to Maxey before the switch was complete. Embiid sealing off Barnes to make the help come late and Maxey ridiculous mid-air body control gave them two points on this possession.
James Harden again fires off a pass to Tyrese Maxey where Siakam is coming at full speed to closeout. Maxey counters with a jab-step creating an angle to attack downhill. Maxey showing his impressive body-control here where he makes a tough and-one finish
Pushing The Pace In Transition
In the words of James Harden, "I'm not fast at all, he is so I've been trying to do a better job of getting the ball, advancing the ball and pushing our pace a little bit more with the advance passing."
Tyrese Maxey is one of the best at pushing the pace on transition, Maxey in transition averages 1.35 PPP which is 85.8%ILE via NBA. With the defense being so drawn up with Joel Embiid, James Harden and Tobias Harris, Maxey got some of his best looks in the game off of transitions.
If there was one possession which would summarize Tyrese Maxey unbelievable performance in Game 1, I believe this would be a fair clip to choose from:
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