Philadelphia 76ers point guard Tyrese Maxey is reaping the benefits of James Harden’s absence.
Maxey has emerged as one of the league’s most promising young talents, and he will look to keep up his high level of play on Saturday afternoon when Philadelphia faces the visiting Phoenix Suns.
With Harden holding out for a trade, Maxey stepped into a starting role, excelling right out of the gate. He averaged 30.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists in his first three games of the season, earning NBA Player of the Week honors in the Eastern Conference.
Harden was then dealt to the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday, and Maxey responded with 18 points, four assists and a pair of steals in Friday’s 114-99 win over the Toronto Raptors.
One of the driving forces behind Maxey’s hot start? None other than Harden himself.
“One thing that (Harden) really installed in me is confidence,” said Maxey, who celebrates his 23rd birthday on Saturday. “I’ve always been a confident person, but he made me be even more confident than I already was. … He took me under his wing.”
Now that Maxey is in line to be Philadelphia’s primary floor general, president of basketball operations Daryl Morey loves the spot his team is in.
“It shows the work (Maxey) put in and Joel (Embiid) has put in,” Morey said. “I think you’ve seen him expand his game as well. … If Tyrese gets to that All-Star level — which he for sure looks like he has a solid chance to be — I wouldn’t say it changes our calculus of what we need.”
As the 76ers start to embrace their new look, Phoenix anxiously is awaiting the chance to do the same.
Star guard Bradley Beal has yet to make his Suns debut due to back spasms, and he’ll likely be unavailable for Saturday’s game as Phoenix moves with caution to get him out on the floor. Beal was acquired from the Washington Wizards via trade this past offseason.
Beal being sidelined has put more pressure on Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. Booker, however, has already missed three of the Suns’ first five games due to an ankle sprain.
Booker looked fine on Friday, though, supplying 31 points, nine rebounds and 13 assists, but Phoenix still fell 132-121 to the Spurs — the Suns’ second loss to San Antonio in three days.
Even though Phoenix hasn’t gotten off to the start it had hoped for at 2-3, Booker isn’t overly concerned.
“I’m in Year 9 now, and just understanding what the beginning of the season is — and I’m not saying it’s not important, I think getting off to a good start is very important and it definitely helps you on the back end of the season,” Booker said. “We still do have things to learn. …
“Back to communication, if we’re all on the same page talking, we’ll be in pretty good shape.”
Booker is eager to get out to Philadelphia, although he isn’t too thrilled about the 1 p.m. ET start time.
“I like getting on the road. I like being road warriors and going to steal wins in other people’s home arena,” Booker said. “NBA always gives us an early game when we fly East. I don’t know what that’s about. It’s always (noon) or 1 every time we get over there.”
The Suns and Sixers split the two-game season series in 2022-23, with each team winning at home.
–Field Level Media