76ers’ Tyrese Maxey continues breakout season with career-high 54 points vs. Bucks
Tyrese Maxey’s ascension continues to feel more real. The Philadelphia 76ers guard continued a red-hot start to the season with perhaps his best game as a pro: a career-high 54 points on 18-of-30 shooting, plus 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks in a 123-114 overtime win Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has had more 50-point games than Maxey’s four over the past three seasons.
Announcement
That scoring explosion increased Maxey’s season average to 33.4 points per game, the second-highest mark in the NBA behind only Luka Dončić (34.6). He is also the second NBA player to open a season with 10 consecutive games of at least 25 points and 5 assists.
The other: Allen Iverson.
Tyrese Maxey is doing Allen Iverson things this season. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
(Patrick McDermott via Getty Images)
It was clear by Maxey’s sophomore year that the Sixers had something in him. Then, at 22, he was averaging more than 20 points a game despite sharing the ball with James Harden.
At 23, he was an All-Star and won the NBA Most Improved Player award. Last season he continued to improve, but had to miss the end of the season with a sprained finger.
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Now, it might just be time to stop expecting the 25-year-old to reach his ceiling anytime soon. In a franchise where Joel Embiid was expected to be the centerpiece for years to come, it’s Maxey who’s taken charge this season as Embiid deals with a knee injury that’s limited him to six games, and it’s Maxey who’s led the short-handed Sixers to a 9-6 record.
It’s superstar stuff.