Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images Tyrese Maxey
The Philadelphia 76ers have had a good season. The team is currently 44-27 and is sitting in third place in the Eastern Conference. The Sixers are also just a half-game behind the Milwaukee Bucks for second place.
For the most part, the Sixers have played well since they traded for superstar James Harden. The team has gone 8-3 when Harden is in the lineup and he’s averaged 22.4 points, 10.5 assists, and 7 rebounds per game.
The addition of Harden has also paid big dividends for current MVP favorite Joel Embiid. In his last nine games, Embiid has averaged 30.1 points and 12.6 rebounds per game, which are both slight increases on his season averages. The arrival of Harden has also been huge for second-year guard Tyrese Maxey.
Maxey the X-Factor
Maxey was already having a good second year of his career, but playing alongside Harden has unlocked even more for him. Since the addition of Harden Maxey’s scoring has gone up from 16.9 points to 19.5 points per game.
A new article from fivethirtyeight.com takes a look at how Maxey is the team’s X-factor as they head towards the postseason.
Maxey is at his best when leveraging his speed and newfound shooting stroke — after connecting on just 31 percent of his threes as a rookie, he’s above 41 percent so far in Year 2 — to take advantage of the attention paid to Harden and Embiid. While his ball-handling opportunities have declined (he’s down from running 39.7 pick and rolls per 100 possessions before Harden’s debut to just 22.6 per 100 since, according to Second Spectrum), he’s gotten considerably more chances to attack closeouts, which he can beat with either a quick trigger or a split-second decision to attack the paint.
Maxey has certainly been able to take advantage of his opportunities when Harden is on the floor. However, Maxey at times can be a defensive liability and that’s an area that he’ll need to improve for the Sixers in the postseason.
In the run through the Eastern Conference playoffs, Philadelphia will also need Maxey to be more consistent on the defensive end of the floor. The Sixers no longer have Ben Simmons to swarm the opposing team’s top perimeter threat. Danny Green is showing his age. Rivers can’t always keep Matisse Thybulle on the floor, given how opposing teams are content to ignore him in half-court situations in an attempt to strangle the rest of the offense. In the first round alone, Maxey faces potential matchups like Trae Young, Kyrie Irving, LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Fred VanVleet and Darius Garland. There will almost surely be more focus and pressure on Maxey’s defense in the postseason than there is right now.
Looking Ahead
With the postseason looming the Sixers have 11 games left in the regular season and the team is currently in a cluster of teams at the top of the Eastern Conference. While the Sixers are currently in third place they are also tied with the Boston Celtics. The team is also just a half-game behind the Bucks and two and a half games behind the first-place Miami Heat.
With the Sixers’ remaining schedule they have a good chance to put themselves in a good position for the playoffs. According to tankathon.com, the Sixers have the sixth easiest remaining schedule. While the Celtics have the hardest remaining schedule, the Bucks have the fifth toughest, and the Heat have the 14th toughest.
With the schedules lining up the way they have down the stretch, the Sixers have a good opportunity to grab a top seed in the conference.