The Philadelphia 76ers desperately needed to get back in the win column when they paid a visit to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. It was a tall task as the Sixers were on the second night of a back-to-back and were once again without Joel Embiid who missed his fifth straight game due to right knee injury management and right shin soreness.
When considering the Timberwolves have been one of the best teams in the league in recent years as they have made two consecutive trips to the Western Conference finals, this almost felt like a loss going into it.
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Luckily for the Sixers, Tyrese Maxey wasn’t trying to hear any of that. The All-Star starter willed Philadelphia to a 135-108 win over the Wolves as he had 39 points on 16-for-28 shooting, 4-for-7 from deep, and eight assists in the win.
“I just thought he was so assertive tonight in the standpoint of he was seeing a lot of similar stuff he’s been seeing,” coach Nick Nurse told reporters. “But he was just attacking what they were doing immediately, instead of sometimes maybe tail when they’ve switched and doubling and analyze, he just kept trying to make them keep up with his speed.”
The Sixers did everything they could to make sure Maxey got going. An adjustment Nurse and Co. made was having Andre Drummond, Dominick Barlow, and Adem Bona set higher screens near half court to give him more space to take off, use his speed and quickness, and get into the paint more often than not.
“Guys did a good job,” Nurse continued. “I thought we were screening really high out on the floor, which gave him a lot more space to play in, and he kept finding creases to get really good shots up tonight.”
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It was a performance the Sixers needed out of Maxey. He has had some tough games as of late when considering how many minutes he’s had to play and his struggles shooting the ball from beyond the arc. For Philadelphia to get back in the win column, it needed Maxey to get going.
“I think it’s just an amazing, like, mental adjustment for him to come in and have some tough games and then just kind of know we really need him to have a great one, and he just does it,” Nurse finished. “He plays like that, and then all of a sudden, everybody else gets lifted, too, and that’s what great players are supposed to do, and he sure did that tonight.”
The Sixers will finish their 3-game road trip on Tuesday when they take on the Indiana Pacers.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers’ Nick Nurse reacts to big Tyrese Maxey night in win over Wolves