Tyrese Maxey, Paul Reed lift undefeated Summer Sixers over Hawks
With 7:36 remaining in the 1st quarter, Paul Reed threw down a putback to give the Sixers an early 4-2 lead.
It‘d be their only lead until 1:35 left in the 4th, when Tyrese Maxey scored his 6th and 7th straight points for Philly. After Sharife Cooper sent it to overtime with a late 2, Maxey and Paul Reed ensured the Sixers would outscore the Hawks 10-2 in 2 minutes of extra play, making sure Philly’s perfect record lasts a little longer.
And how about Tyrese Maxey, Paul Reed, and Isaiah Joe, the Sixers 2020 Rookie Class. They combined for 72 of the Sixers 96 points, and chipped in 23 rebounds and 12 assists just for good measure.
Fighting back to erase multiple double digit deficits is a team effort, so let’s go player by player.
Tyrese Maxey
What more can you say about him? He had a game high 31 points and while he was maybe slightly inefficient (11-23 FG, 1-8 from 3), he looks improved in all aspects of his game. He only finished with 5 assists, but finding the open man is something that is coming easy to him. he shot poorly from outside but was clearly more comfortable at creating space on the perimeter.
It's safe to say he won’t have this role when the regular season starts, but it’s encouraging to see just how far Maxey has developed from when he first walked in the door.
Paul Reed
The G League MVP turned in a dominant, stat stuffing performance Thursday night, igniting a third quarter run that put the Sixers in the game for good.
To compliment his 20 points, he added 12 rebounds, 3 Assists, 2 Steals and a block. He was all over the court, and looked dominant for some stretches. If his defensive ability and well rounded offensive game can translate against higher competition, the Sixers might truly have a second round steal on their hands.
Isaiah Joe
Speaking of second round steals, Joe continued his push for playing time, making 5 of the teams 7 threes, attacking offensively and holding his own on the other end. He has been an uber valuable floor spacer in his minutes so far and might be able to compete for a backup wing role during the regular season.
Jaden Springer
Springer has mostly been exactly what I’ve expected: a raw offensive player (3-9 FG) who shows serious ability on both ends of the floor. And even if he hasn‘t been knocking down shots, it’s nice to see Springer at least attempting more threes than he has in college.
Best of the Rest
Aaron Henry and Rayjon Tucker didn’t fill the box score, but I thought both looked solid and showed potential that justifies their two way contracts. Henry also made this smooth play on the fastbreak:
Daishen Nix and Lamar Peters both played for the Sixers. That’s all I can say about them.
Flip Petrusev was fine I guess, but didn’t end up closing the game. Paul Reed slid to the 5 and Aaron Henry took his place.
Up Next
On Saturday, Philly takes on the 3-0 Celtics at 5:00 PM EST, with the game airing on NBATV and ESPN3. Both teams try to keep their momentum going in their pursuit of a summer league championship.