At this moment, there are plenty of fanbases who will tell you three games into the NBA season is a perfect time to panic. Personally, I tend to enjoy the early and often wonky machinations of the season — young or written-off teams coming in hot, the Goliaths of the league taking some time to get on their feet again, and decisive, stand-out performances that hint at an athlete’s season to come.
Tyrese Maxey had one of those last night, putting up 45 points for the Sixers in an everywhere-at-once game against the Pacers. Sixers fans were one of the fanbases I was alluding to earlier, after the team’s 2-0 start to the season and being without Joel Embiid and Paul George, but the game in Indiana should bring hope.
Early on, the Pacers put pressure on Maxey. Without Embiid and George, Maxey and Kelly Oubre are the Sixers best scoring options and Indiana wanted to shut them down. Maxey looked tentative, with very little of the free-ranging, freneticism that serves him so well. That shifted in the second half, aided by Maxey’s shots starting to fall but more in his movement returning. He hunted looks and when he didn’t find them, he barrelled down through traffic and finished in balletic layups and off-balance put-backs.
What makes Maxey so fun to watch (and interview) is his energy. It’s so natural, with no airs whatsoever. He’s like a sunbeam on two legs. That energy is infectious and the Sixers needed it badly, even if Nick Nurse’s current rotations aren’t ideal or long-term. What can be long-term is empowering Maxey, because his confidence and exuberance is only going to add another gear to the team. Where Philadelphia tends to get stuck in their own existential doldrums can come with the gravity around Embiid, and the team not really having a counterweight. Even George, with his experience, isn’t the kind of combustive force Embiid needs to balance him. Maxey can be, and showed flashes of what he can offer in bursts of leadership, ball-handling and of course, scoring, last night.
The silver lining of what the Sixers are going through right now, being without their star and his to-be second brightest in George, is the runway this time gives Maxey. Without Embiid on the floor Maxey becomes more than a conduit, or what he does to make Embiid better. He gets to find new footing and most importantly, gears in which to channel all his energy. That sort of competitive memory is long-lasting and will serve the Sixers once Embiid and George return, and, the hope is, into the postseason.
