By Jerry Wein
Sixers rookie Tyrese Maxey played all of his minutes during the fourth period of last night’s exo win over the Celtics and finished with eight points (on 4-of-6 shooting), one rebound, three assists and just one turnover.
His impressive debut went beyond the box score.
Welcome to the Association, @TyreseMaxey. pic.twitter.com/C0EV38hQdN
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) December 16, 2020
Ben Simmons could not agree more:
“He dominated once he got the jitters and the excitement out of the way. He slowed the game down and got to what he has been working on. I’ve seen him numerous hours doing those floaters and working on his game. To me, it’s not a surprise but it’s great to see all of that work pay off. He’s going to be great, offensively and defensively, once he learns concepts and things like that.”
The Sixers selected Maxey 21st overall in the October draft following an impressive freshman year with Kentucky. The 6-3 guard will need to fight for a spot in the rotation this coming season, but last night’s showing is something that new head coach Doc Rivers certainly took note of:
“He’s good. He’s a good player,” Rivers said after the game. “He’s gotta push for minutes because he is a good basketball player. He knows how to play. You can’t speed him up. He’s got a plethora of shots. He makes simple plays. I’m throwing this out to [Kentucky head coach John Calipari], I’ve said this before, Kentucky guys come into the NBA prepared. This kid knows how to defend, he talks on defense.”
Last season with the Wildcats, Tyrese Maxey averaged 14.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists en route to being named as part of the SEC All-Freshman and All-SEC squads. Needless to say, Maxey has a bright future ahead of him in Philly.
