When he is healthy and right, Philadelphia 76ers star Paul George is still one of the best players on the floor on a nightly basis. He showed that in Thursday’s road win over the Milwaukee Bucks when he scored 21 points in 24 minutes, including scoring the game’s first 11 points to give the Sixers a spark.
George’s offensive burst forced the Bucks to then turn a lot of defensive attention to him. That allowed Tyrese Maxey to go off for a career-high 54 points on 18-for-30 shooting. George may not be the superstar player he once was, but he can still contribute and give the Sixers a lot of help on either end of the floor.
In the process, life can be made easier for Maxey.
“Listen, whatever it is to make the game easy for number zero,” George told reporters after the win. “I’ve been saying that he’s been doing a lot for us. He might not want to say it, but I know he’s tired. He’s got to be tired. So, I’m just trying to make the game easy for him within the offense, play my game, but also I do feel like I can see plays ahead and kind of see where guys should be, and balancing the floor and just trying to give us the best possibility of getting a good shot each possession.”
On the season, Maxey is now averaging 33.4 points, 7.9 assists, and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 47.3% from the floor and 42.1% from deep. He has been phenomenal and is squarely in the MVP conversation in the early part of the season. His production on that end has impressed everybody, including George, who had an inkling of what Maxey could do before signing with the Sixers, but he didn’t know he could be this good.
“Obviously, I’ve played against him multiple times before coming here,” George added. “He started out with James (Harden), and when James left, he kind of got a little bit more thrown on his plate, and then he’s just developed over that. Again, I noticed it early on, just watching him like, ‘Man, he got better.’ I think it’s his mindset. I think it’s his mentality, and, like I said, he works on his game tirelessly, so all of that adds up, and he’s just a great leader. He’s a great leader. He’s young, but he’s a great leader, and he’s the total package.”
If George can make life easier for Maxey on the floor, then the Sixers will certainly give themselves a chance to go deep into the playoffs come April and May.