Ja Morant Impressed With Tyrese Maxey, Isaiah Joe at NBA Summer League

The Philadelphia 76ers' Summer League squad took the court for their second game of the offseason on Thursday night. After dominating the Dallas Mavericks in
Ja Morant Impressed With Tyrese Maxey, Isaiah Joe at NBA Summer League
Ja Morant Impressed With Tyrese Maxey, Isaiah Joe at NBA Summer League /

The Philadelphia 76ers' Summer League squad took the court for their second game of the offseason on Thursday night. After dominating the Dallas Mavericks in the first outing on Monday afternoon, Tyrese Maxey, Isaiah Joe, and the rest of the team looked to build on that momentum on Thursday against the Atlanta Hawks.

After getting off to a small lead early on, the Sixers fell behind the Hawks rather quickly. For a majority of the first half and all of the third quarter, the Hawks stayed out in front of the Sixers.

But just because Philly fell behind doesn't mean they were willing to roll over and call it quits. Thanks to a dominant defensive showing by Paul Reed, the Sixers managed to keep the Hawks from continuing to increase their lead.

Then as the fourth quarter approached, Tyrese Maxey and Isaiah Joe caught fire and garnered heavy praise from a superstar spectator that was in the building.

Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant was spotted courtside at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas on Thursday night. Although he didn't have any direct connections to the Sixers-Hawks matchup as it didn't have too much to do with his Memphis Grizzlies, Morant was just enjoying the show, watching both teams battle it out. In the process, he was especially impressed with Maxey and Joe.

Maxey, the Sixers' leading scorer throughout the entire Summer League so far, had himself another stellar outing on Thursday. In 33 minutes of action, the second-year guard hit on 48-percent of his shots from the field, totaling for 31 points.

Isaiah Joe, on the other hand, got hot from beyond the arc once again. Knocking down five of his 13 attempts from long-range, Joe totaled for 21 points in 36 minutes of action. Thanks to Joe, Maxey, and Reed's contributions, the Sixers pulled off a comeback victory against the Hawks with a 96-88 win in overtime, moving to 2-0 on the Summer League season.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_. 


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Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Title: Credentialed writer/reporter covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation Email: JustinGrasso32@Gmail.com Location: Philadelphia, PA Expertise: Reporting, insight, and analysis on the Sixers and the NBA  Justin Grasso is a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation.  Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writer’s Association.  Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoNBA