Multiple Sixers react to Tyrese Maxey going off to lead Sixers to win
The Philadelphia 76ers needed a win in order to move back in the right direction on Friday when they took on the Toronto Raptors to continue their road trip. The Sixers were coming off a very tough loss to these same Raptors on Wednesday and they needed to take their game to the next level.
They had to do so without superstar Joel Embiid who was out due to right knee injury recovery. Without the big fella, they leaned on Tyrese Maxey who responded with a career-high 44 points with eight rebounds to lead the Sixers to a 112-90 win over the Raptors.
After the team picked up the win, Maxey and his teammates reacted to the big performance as they got back in the win column as they told reporters:
Maxey explains his big night
“It was getting good looks. Like me, myself, and the team included. We got to the paint, sprayed off for 3s, got in transition, and once you get stops, the game becomes way easier honestly for not just myself, for all of us, and because we were getting to the paint and driving and kicking, creating, generating offense for everybody. That’s why I got open 3s, why D-Melt (De’Anthony Melton) got open 3s, Tobias (Harris) got open 3s. Really hats off to the defensive side of the court tonight (Friday).”
Matisse Thybulle on Maxey
“Sometimes you get worried when someone’s that hot that they’re gonna start missing so they start taking shots and you’re like ‘Ahh! Ahh, I don’t know!’ and it just kept going in. He just continues to do this throughout his career. Even from his like second year, like, when he would start getting minutes. It was like each time he goes in you’re like ‘I hope he’s able to do something’ and each time he did something and it’s like every time he gets an opportunity, he does something big with it. You could even take it back to the COVID game we were looking at our bench, like who’s gonna be the one to step up? Tyrese Maxey and it’s like time after time, Tyrese is the one that steps up, shows up big and he does it obviously, as an individual, but for the team, and we all benefit from it.”
Doc Rivers on Maxey
“I just think he’s a heck of a basketball player. We came into the game knowing Joel wasn’t gonna play and we talked to him this morning, the whole team, not him, about trying to find matchups and then spacing the floor and attacking. They are a great help defensive team and they can’t stop it. Us getting into the paint sucked everybody in and that’s where we got shots. So I thought we were ready for that and I thought we did a good job.”
Maxey on a team effort leading to a win
“I just wanted to win so bad. I’m just so serious. I just know how good we can be. I know how talented we are, but we got to match our talent with the energy that we play with and defensive tenacity and I think tonight, we knew that it was gonna be extremely hard without Joel. So that made guys step up and make guys do things that they normally don’t do. Melton was on the glass, played really well. Matisse came in, Georges (Niang) had five rebounds. I mean, just guys really bought into what we had to do and it was a good win.”
