PHILADELPHIA — 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey‘s scoring prowess turned him into an All-Star — and this season potentially an All-NBA selection — during his five-plus NBA seasons.
But on Thursday night, it was a spectacular defensive play that allowed Maxey and the 76ers to escape with a heart-stopping 99-98 victory over the Golden State Warriors at Xfinity Mobile Arena, as he raced from one end of the court to the other in seemingly the blink of an eye to swat a potential game-winning layup by Warriors guard De’Anthony Melton and stave off what would’ve been a horrific 76ers collapse.
“I just wanted to make a play,” Maxey said, “and try to help us win that game.”
And he did, allowing the 76ers to earn a win four days after they played the Atlanta Hawks here in a similarly wild contest, one Philadelphia lost in double overtime.
This one, though, had an even more unforgettable ending.
After the Warriors — playing without Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler III, who were ruled out before the game, and Draymond Green, who left in the second quarter after reaggravating a foot injury — had erased a 24-point lead late in the fourth quarter, 76ers rookie guard VJ Edgecombe managed to convert an offensive rebound off a Maxey missed jumper with 0.9 to go.
“We know he can score, we know he can pass, but he does things that don’t show up in the box score all the time,” Maxey said of Edgecombe’s knack for chasing the ball on plays such as that.
“He made a hell of a play. For him to be able to go out there and track the ball, and tip it in like that? That was a great play.”
At that point, the 76ers had taken a 99-98 lead, and with no timeouts for the Warriors it appeared to practically everyone inside the arena that the game was over. But Warriors guard Buddy Hield stepped out of bounds, grabbed the ball and fired a perfect pass the length of the court to Melton, who latched onto it like it was Jalen Hurts throwing to A.J. Brown across the parking lot here in South Philadelphia and, seemingly, had a chance to make what would’ve been a truly unbelievable game-winning layup.
But then Maxey appeared.
One of the fastest players in the league, Maxey used every ounce of his speed and athleticism — aided by some adrenaline and, as he said with a smile later, not wanting his friend and former teammate to be able to get one over on him — to race back and block Melton’s shot at the buzzer. Maxey was swarmed by his teammates, and the 76ers breathed an immense sigh of relief.
“The block was amazing,” said Joel Embiid, who knows a thing or two about blocking shots. “I almost forgot where we actually made the game-winning layup. I had to ask after. I was like, ‘Wait, who made a game-winning layup?’ That’s how good the block was. But obviously, you don’t get the block unless someone makes a play.”
Philadelphia will try to make it three in a row when they visit the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday on the second night of a back-to-back. The Bucks will be without Giannis Antetokounmpo after the two-time MVP suffered a calf injury Wednesday in a win over the Detroit Pistons that will keep him out for two to four weeks.
Embiid will also miss that game after he returned to the court for the second time in three games after missing the prior three weeks with right knee soreness. Embiid played 25 minutes, finishing with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. He went 5-for-13 from the field on a night when his jumper wasn’t falling (he missed all five of his 3-point attempts).
He also wasn’t on the court toward the end of the contest after hitting his 25-minute limit earlier — something he said he talked to Nurse about in terms of the best way to optimize his minutes and, he hopes, continue to ramp up his conditioning.
“I just think after last game I sat too long, and I think that’s happened in the past, earlier in the season, sitting too long and coming back in the fourth,” Embiid said. “Until I’m able to bump that up or they’ll allow me to play more, I think I just got to not sit too long, just play basketball and that’s also the best way to get in a rhythm because obviously, being in and out and obviously not playing back-to-backs and playing, basically playing every two days, that’s how you get in rhythm.”
Paul George, meanwhile, sat out Thursday’s game, but is trending toward playing Friday. Forward Kelly Oubre, out for the past few weeks with an LCL sprain, will be reevaluated next week.
