October 11, 2023

Instant observations: Tyrese Maxey looks comfortable in the drivers' seat of the Sixers' offense

The Sixers dropped their preseason home game to the Celtics 112-101, but showed some promise with Tyrese Maxey running the offense.

By Nick Tricome
PhillyVoice Staff

The Sixers had another preseason tune-up Wednesday night, once again against the Celtics, but this time in front of the home crowd at the Wells Fargo Center.

Just about every eye in Philadelphia was focused on the Phillies across the street, but for those wanting to catch up after, here are some observations from the Sixers' 112-101 exhibition loss...

The Good

• With no Joel Embiid or James Harden again, Tyrese Maxey was back in the driver's seat of the Sixers' offense and looked fully comfortable at the wheel.

He had little issue creating his own offense – 17 points on 7-for-17 shooting with three rebounds and three assists – while consistently making the passes and moves that kickstarted sequences to open others up. He also got the ball moving back the other way defensively with two steals.

Maxey drained a three early after a cut-back up high that left Derrick White as his man stranded up by the logo and Tobias Harris free to effortlessly dump the ball right to him.

Then he drove in back-to-back layups on a sequence chained together by a Paul Reed board, and early into the second quarter, took the ball on the inbound and ran straight in for the pull-up jumper.

2020 draft class making plays. 🤝@TyreseMaxey x @bball_paul pic.twitter.com/A2T6Egx5N8
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 11, 2023

For better or worse depending on who you ask right now, the Sixers are still very much Embiid's team, while whatever happens next with Harden is a total mystery.

And they'll both be big parts in determining how good the Sixers will be this season.

But the true x-factor in how far they can actually go is Maxey.

If he takes another leap in the Sixers' backcourt, potentially into NBA stardom, that'll be huge in keeping a contending window open that many fans aren't all that optimistic still is.

And if these first two preseason games have shown anything, for as much as you can glean from the preseason, Maxey can do it.

• Kelly Oubre Jr. loved that corner three Wednesday night and was fairly active across the entire floor when he was in.

WE SEE YOU, @KELLYOUBREJR.

3/3 from 3 👀 pic.twitter.com/W4XWPPd57w
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 11, 2023

He also threw down this alley-oop that cut the Celtics lead down to two in the third.

Kelly Oopbre Jr. pic.twitter.com/o0EW7LGDpL
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 12, 2023

Oubre said back on media day that the Sixers were "the most well-oiled machine" he's been a part of, and definitely looks like he wants to make the most of the opportunity with the way he's helped keep the ball moving so far. He might be a pleasant surprise off the bench this season.

For the night, Oubre had 18 points on 6-for-8 shooting, including 4-for-6 from three.

• Danny Green did well coming off the bench, freeing himself up in space and going 2-for-3 from three even up against some contested looks. He finished with eight points.

back like he never left.@DGreen_14 pic.twitter.com/GVagBIwO8Z
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 11, 2023

• Jaden Springer didn't see heavy minutes until the second half. He still took his chances driving to the basket and shooting from three with that same confidence from the other night, and racked up 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting (2-for-3 from long range), but by the time he got going, Boston was already pulling away.

He threw down an alley-oop of his own too though.

Terq ➡️ Jaden pic.twitter.com/KPxe0v8piA
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 12, 2023

The Bad

• Rough shooting night for Tobias Harris: 2-for-9 from the field and 0-for-4 from three. But hey, it's preseason.

• Paul Reed shooting from three wasn't pretty either – 0-for-2 – but, hey, it's preseason. Go for it, big man.

• Defensively, there wasn't much the Sixers were doing to stop the Celtics. They were getting outpaced on the defensive glass 37-26 within the last three minutes and Boston was shooting at over 48 percent by that point. But hey, preseason.