Tyrese Maxey’s Recent Struggles Aren’t Worrying 76ers

The 76ers are confident that Tyrese Maxey will be just fine.

Philadelphia 76ers third-year guard Tyrese Maxey is off to another incredible start. After becoming a first-year starter during his sophomore effort last season, Maxey showed tons of improvement from the jump.

This year, he’s trending in a positive direction once again, as his numbers are even better. Last season, Maxey averaged 17 points in 75 starts. Through the first 11 games of the 2022-2023 season, the young guard has put up 23 points per game. 

Last year, Maxey averaged 43 percent from three on four attempts per game. This season, he’s in the same ballpark so far while getting up more shots, as he’s averaging 42 percent from deep while attempting seven shots per game.

A lot of Maxey’s success came when playing alongside James Harden this year. As Harden’s one of the NBA’s top playmakers, Maxey benefitted from sharing the court with the ten-time All-Star, who helped the rising star garner solid looks from all over the floor.

Prior to Harden’s injury, Maxey was shooting 52 percent from the field and 47 percent from three. However, those numbers took a notable dip over the last two games following Harden’s tendon strain, which is expected to keep him off the floor for several weeks.

Against the New York Knicks last Friday, Maxey put up 29 shots. Unfortunately, he drained just 34 percent of his attempts. The following game, the young guard struggled even more on fewer shots as he drained only 22 percent of his 18 attempts, going scoreless from three.

Without Harden sharing the court with him, Maxey has hit on just 30 percent of his shots from the field recently. After Monday’s game, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers acknowledged Maxey’s struggles and admitted the Sixers have to get him back to playing in his comfort zone.

“This is where you got to be so careful with young players,” said Rivers. “He watches the film, and he sees all these guys open. I thought he played an entire game predetermining trying to come off to be a passer, and I thought he got stuck in that and so it’s not a big change. We got to get him back to being a scorer. Be a scorer, and let us complain about you missing guys, but you got to be an attacker. I thought he tried to turn it on, but we’ll get him back in the right place.”

Last week, Maxey and the Sixers noted that Harden holds irreplaceable value to the team. Therefore, one guy shouldn’t attempt to become Harden on their own — including Maxey.

“I think everybody is kind of getting adjusted,” said Sixers forward Tobias Harris. “When you lose a guy like James to injury, it creates more opportunity for guys, and now, the basketball is in Tyrese’s hands the majority of the game being a point guard instead of being at the two-spot. It’s just a matter of adjusting and getting comfortable. I think it’s a small thing, but it’s part of the game. He’ll be fine. I think the looks that he’s getting are shots that we know he can make.”

Maxey has proven plenty of times that he isn’t stubborn and is willing to adjust his game. Also, he’s shown that struggles are temporary, and he’ll do what it takes to ensure he gets back on track. While figuring out what to do in the absence of Harden might be a work in progress for Maxey and the 76ers, they seem to be figuring everything out on the fly, which is a step in the right direction.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.