With the Philadelphia Eagles bounced out of the NFL playoffs and Philadelphia Phillies’ season on hold due to MLB’s lockout, the Philadelphia 76ers are the talk of the town. The two central characters on which those conversations are being spoken about are Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
Rightfully so as Embiid is making a legit case of being the NBA’s MVP this season and Simmons is in the news for being on the trade block. However, that’s not the only thing that Sixers fans need to start paying attention to.
Despite the success of Embiid and the team as a whole, head coach Doc Rivers isn’t without his flaws during this run. One thing in particular that Rivers has done a poor job of is allowing Tyrese Maxey to be the scorer he is capable of being.
The Sixers head coach isn’t using his starting point guard properly.
On the season, Maxey has averaged 16.6 points and 4.3 assists, while shooting 47.0 percent on field goals and 40.2 percent on 3-pointers. Considering he was in and out of the lineup last season, this is a great improvement for the second year point guard.
When Embiid missed time earlier this season, Maxey showed All-Star potential and proved he can be more than just a complimentary starter. Yet, since Embiid has been on this 15-game tear where he’s scored at least 30 points in 13 of those games, Maxey has only scored over 20 points three times. Granted he’s missed six games during that stretch, but the point is still valid.
During his 15-game tour of elite play, Embiid has averaged 33.1 points on 55.0 percent shooting from the floor and 38.0 percent from downtown. On the flip side, Maxey has averaged 15.3 points on 44.0 from the field and 47.4 percent from deep over the same span.
The efficiency alone should earn him the opportunity to take more shots. Yet, he’s still being treated as a third or fourth option behind Embiid, Tobias Harris, and sometimes Seth Curry. It’s not right and it falls on Rivers.
Maxey is ready for a bigger role and the Sixers head coach has to get him to be more aggressive and to give him more opportunities to be so.