How Tyrese Maxey’s Feeling a Week After Recovering From Injury
It’s been over a week since Tyrese Maxey returned to the Philadelphia 76ers’ lineup. Spending more than a month in recovery after suffering a foot fracture, Maxey came off the bench for 18 minutes in his first game back with the Sixers last Friday against the New Orleans Pelicans.
As expected, Maxey was rusty in his first set of action after missing the previous 18 games. Going 4-10 from the field and scoring just nine points, it was clear Maxey still needed time to get re-adjusted after spending so much time away from the game.
The following night after his return, Maxey took a game off. Then he was back on the floor on Monday to face the Pelicans for a rematch. Once again, coming off the bench, Maxey checked in for 26 minutes. He still wasn’t quite in rhythm, but he looked better by getting up 16 shots from the field and scoring 12 points.
Over the last two games against the Indiana Pacers and the Chicago Bulls, Maxey checked in for 36 minutes in each game. To no surprise, his best performance was his most recent, which came against the Bulls on Friday night.
From the gate, Maxey had an “I’m back” performance. In the first quarter, the young guard drained three of his five shots from the field, knocking down both of his attempts from beyond the arc for eight points. Not only was Maxey efficient with his shot, but his quickness was back.
“You can see [his burst] is back,” said 76ers head coach Doc Rivers after the game. “More important is his shot’s back, you know? I think his shot sets up everything else for him. I think Tyrese is good to go.”
Maxey’s coaches and teammates were happy to see the young guard have a performance on par with his early-season showings. In 36 minutes, the young guard hit on eight of his 15 shots from the field, knocking down all but two of his seven threes. He finished the night with 26 points and six assists.
“I was out, I think, six weeks or however long it was,” said Maxey. “So I think I had to get back acclimated to the speed of the game. You know, you can play against coaches and player development all day long, but at the end of the day, they're not in the NBA. So it's like they help, but you know, playing against the real NBA players is extremely hard. So it's just that, the physical and the rhythm. That's really it. I'm still trying to get it back.”
Friday’s game was a big step in the right direction. With Maxey back in the starting lineup and finding himself exceeding 30 minutes on the floor once again, it shouldn’t be long before the young guard is back on track and consistently being an X-factor for this Sixers team.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
