The One Piece Sixers Will Need More From in Order to Beat the Knicks

If Philadelphia is to have any hope of upsetting New York, Joel Embiid needs more help.

Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia 76ers cemented their position as the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference playoff bracket Wednesday night by narrowly edging past the Miami Heat, 105-104, in the play-in tournament. Philly is now slated to face the No. 2 seed New York Knicks in the first full round of postseason play. There is reason to believe in the Sixers' ability to pull off an upset with Joel Embiid getting back up to full speed, but they're going to need more than that to beat New York.

The team needs Tyrese Maxey to step up in a big way. Wednesday night was a great example of how far things get off the rails when he doesn't. They'll need a lot more from him to take four games from the Knicks.

Against the Heat, Maxey played 44 minutes. He had 19 points and six assists, shooting 6-of-16 from the floor and making one of his six three-point shots. That's a fine outing for last year's version of Maxey, the No. 3 option behind Embiid and James Harden. It simply isn't enough for this year's iteration of the team, which relies heavily upon the guard for shot creation without Embiid. And given the big man is very clearly still getting back into game shape, there will be even more reliance on Maxey for production.

His fourth-quarter performance was the biggest cause for concern. Before the Heat started fouling in the last 30 seconds, Maxey recorded one basket and one assist. The game was in the balance for much of the quarter and he couldn't get anything going. Philadelphia will need help late in a close contest because Embiid got tired by the end of games when he was in peak shape, much less when he's working on his conditioning as he is now.

Part of Wednesday night's performance was a matter of circumstance, in fairness. A zone defense really takes away a lot of what Maxey does best, and in the fourth quarter Philly's entire offensive gameplan was to give Embiid the ball and wait for Miami to send a double team. They never doubled off Maxey, because he's the team's second-best offensive player, and so his touches were limited.

In other words, Maxey didn't shy away from the moment. The Heat's gameplan took him out of the offense. But that's playoff basketball, and the best players overcome the best of gameplans. Much is expected out of Maxey because he has proven capable of being that sort of player over the course of his breakout year.

This past season, Maxey averaged 25.9 points and 6.2 assists per game. He shot 45.0% from the floor and 37.3% from deep. Additionally, he was good for a handful of trips to the charity stripe each night, shooting 86.8% from the free-throw line on 5.4 attempts per contest. The efficiency numbers are all slightly down, given he was forced into a No. 1 role after Embiid's injury, but it was still an excellent campaign that may land Maxey the Most Improved Player award.

All that is to say the former Kentucky guard has taken the leap from exciting young player to a legitimate NBA scorer, one good enough to be the second option on a competitive team. His skillset is pretty well-suited to playoff basketball, too. His slight stature will be a problem on both ends of the floor but Nick Nurse has coached him up defensively. Offensively, Maxey's great shooting combined with a lightning-quick first step should make him incredibly dangerous in the open floor and on closeouts.

All that was missing on Wednesday, and the Sixers can't afford to have it happen again. Their margin for error is very slim. Philly needed Nic Batum to save the day against Miami. He won't score 20 points every night. The Sixers need Maxey to have a prayer against a very tough Knicks team that doesn't give up anything easy.

The guard took a big leap in the 2023-24 season. If Philadelphia is to advance further into the playoffs, Maxey will need to take another. His team is depending on it.