Tyrese Maxey Scores Career-High 52, San Antonio Spurs Fall to Philadelphia 76ers in 2OT Thriller

The San Antonio Spurs and Philadelphia 76ers wrapped up the season series with another memorable finish.

Apr 7, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1). / Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid had one of the best scoring games in NBA history in January when he posted a jaw-dropping 70 points against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs at Wells Fargo Center.

He didn't play Sunday night in San Antonio to wrap up the season series, but the two teams still brought the late-game thrills thanks to Tyrese Maxey and Wembanyama.

Maxey scored a career-high 52 points in 54 minutes as the Sixers held off the Spurs in double overtime for a thrilling 133-126 win.

Wembanyama posted another monster stat line, scoring a team-high 33 points to go along with 18 rebounds, six assists and seven blocks on 11 of 20 shooting. The Spurs also got double-digit scoring efforts from Malaki Branham (22 points), Tre Jones (17 points, eight rebounds, nine assists) and Julian Champagnie (17 points, eight rebounds).

Apr 7, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Tre Jones (33). / Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

Sixers guard Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 26 of his own while rookie Ricky Council IV came up with a crucial 11-point effort off the bench.

Wembanyama found Champagnie for what appeared to be the game-winning triple with 2.7 seconds left in regulation, but Maxey got free for the game-tying layup with 0.9 to play to send it to overtime.

From there, both sides went back-and-forth to send the game to a second overtime. Oubre Jr. barely missed a game-winning 3 with 0.8 left after Wembanyama air-balled the potential winner on the play prior.

The Spurs then shot themselves in the foot in the second overtime with multiple turnovers, as the Sixers used a 10-0 run to seal the win.

To open up the game, Oubre Jr. scored 12 points in the first quarter as the Sixers jumped out to a 31-24 lead.

After a technical foul from Collins in the second quarter, Maxey hit a free throw to put Philly up 43-29 and seemingly in command with 9:32 left until halftime. 

But then the Spurs erupted.

From that point on, San Antonio flipped a switch and put together a 35-11 run to end the half and headed into the locker room suddenly up 64-54 after being down by 14 just a few minutes earlier. Branham helped key the run with three triples while Wembanyama had 10 points of his own during the half-closing stretch. He led all scorers at halftime with 16 points and nine rebounds. 

Both teams were sluggish scoring-wise in the third quarter, though it was the Spurs who maintained the lead at 80-73 despite scoring just 16 points in the period. 

Wembanyama began the fourth with three more triples, highlighted by a step-back 3 in the corner in front of the Philly bench. 

Despite Wemby’s strong shooting, the 76ers kept finding room in the paint and kept the game within single digits. Johnson then suffered a lower body injury and hopped off the court to the locker room at the 7:30 mark. 

Maxey’s continued brilliance cut the lead to one at 100-99 with 2:47 to play, as he got to his spots and the foul line at will. Wembanyama blocked two more shots and came up with a pair of key assists down the stretch to seemingly seal the win.

However, Maxey and Batum hit back-to-back 3s to suddenly put Philly in front at 109-108 with 9.3 left. It marked the Sixers' first lead since the second quarter.

The Spurs then ran out of gas in the two overtimes, as the Sixers closed out the game in a win that they needed amid the late-season playoff race in the Eastern Conference.