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Tyrese Maxey played a crucial role in helping the Philadelphia 76ers take a 2-0 lead over the Brooklyn Nets in the first round, scoring a game-high 33 points on 13-for-23 shooting from the field, which included hitting six threes.
Nets wing Cam Johnson attributed Maxey’s performance to the Nets’ defensive rotations more than anything else, though he acknowledged Maxey as an efficient shooter.
“He was the beneficiary of a lot of our rotations,” Johnson said during his postgame press conference via the House of Highlights YouTube Channel. “He’s in their corner, kind of just waiting on those threes, and those ones are tough to give them up because he’s just teeing them off, making them. He’s a guy that’s capable, he has been shooting a high percentage, so it’s nothing that we should be surprised by, but man, they were finding him.”
Johnson added that Maxey’s abilities as a scorer are no secret, and performances like the one he had tonight echo what happens during the playoffs.
“That’s playoff basketball, man. It’s a good team. Good guys are locked in, playing at the highest level, highest focus, so you gotta expect to a degree that somebody’s going to step up their game. And it’s not like (Maxey)’s not a usual suspect. That guy can score the ball.”
Nets Happy With Defense on Joel Embiid and James Harden
Though Johnson acknowledged that Maxey had a great game, he said that James Harden‘s performance was exactly what the Nets wanted when they covered him on the defensive end.
“Harden was on the wrong side of that one today,” Johnson said. “Eight points, and that’s what we want to do, but in games like this, that 33 from Maxey on efficiency is pretty killer.”
Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn also gave Maxey credit for how well he performed in light of Harden’s and Joel Embiid‘s performances, which he, too, said was part of the gameplan.
“Give our group credit for maintaining the game plan. Harden and Embiid, (we) kept them in check, offensive rebounds for PJ kept them in check,” Vaughn said, per YES Network’s YouTube Channel. “Give credit to Maxey tonight. So as a part of the playoffs, someone steps up and you hope that step up is on your end of the line. Give them credit.”
The Sixers have a chance to take a commanding 3-0 when they face the Nets in Game 3 on April 20.
Joel Embiid Issues Statement on Tyrese Maxey
During his postgame press conference, Embiid singled out Maxey and Tobias Harris for how well they played in Game 2.
“You got to do whatever it takes,” Embiid said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “I’m doubled. I’m triple-teamed. If I want to, I could get a shot. Is it going to be a good shot? Probably for me, I think so, but probably not most of the time. So, just got to trust it and keep making the right plays. Like I said, in the first half, we were pretty cold, but I knew at some point we were going to knock down shots. Tobias [Harris] was big. Obviously, Ty was big.”
