Sixers: 3 takeaways from dominant Game 1 win over Raptors
Sixers-Raptors game one takeaways: Tyrese Maxey has arrived
Tyrese Maxey continues one-up himself. He lives for the big moments, and the big moments tend to find themselves in tune with Maxey’s game. The 21-year-old, in his first playoff start (after barely touching the floor in last season’s Hawks series), dropped 38 points on 14-of-21 shooting, going 5-of-8 from deep, hitting all five of his free throw attempts, and guarding Fred VanVleet on the other end.
There’s no more shying away from Maxey’s offensive stardom. He has a long way to go defensively, and there’s still plenty of room for improvement, but Maxey’s confidence is unshakable. It’s unshakable because he puts the work in, and because he puts the work in, fans have every reason to believe he will continue to get better.
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The Sixers are a generally slow and unathletic team. The Raptors can throw length and athleticism at all five positions. Leave it to Maxey — the Sixers’ one true source of speed and flash in the halfcourt — to burn Toronto’s rotating defense time and time again, taking advantage of the extra attention afforded to Joel Embiid and James Harden.
Toronto will probably shift its game plan moving forward. I would expect some of the extra attention being paid to James Harden to instead be focused on Maxey in game two. Toronto started bringing double teams in the second half, and given Harden’s recent struggles off the dribble, it could behoove Toronto to make Harden win the one-on-one matchups instead of Maxey. That said, not many players shoot as well as Maxey and are as fast as Maxey. He’s difficult to contain, and the Raptors will have a hard time checking all four of Philadelphia’s primary offensive weapons in the halfcourt.