The Philadelphia 76ers managed to rack up their 14th win of the season over the Indiana Pacers. With their adversaries riddled with injuries, they were definitely favored to win anyway, but they had to go deep into the game to secure the dub, which becomes all the more impressive when you take into account the fact that Tyrese Maxey missed his first game of the season with an illness.
Fortunately for the 76ers, Joel Embiid and Paul George decided to turn in their best performances so far this season on the same night. Embiid went for 39 points and nine rebounds in 32 minutes, while George finished the night with 23 markers, six boards, and five assists to lead the team to victory. Now, both of them playing this well without Maxey is just a coincidence, right?
Without subscribing to those glib and nonsensical “team X is better off without player X” takes, it is clear that both Embiid and George had every reason to play with more aggression. After all, Maxey is the third-leading scorer in the NBA, and his absence left a huge void on the scoring end. Having said that, fans who want them to reprise this level of play every night might want to think carefully about what that proposition might imply as to the team’s dynamic.
The 76ers have to strike a much better balance between Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and Paul George
Embiid has actually had a higher usage rate than Maxey, with George still having the usage of a fringe All-Star. However, the 76ers’ style of play has changed so much that the team plays a drastically different way when Maxey is out there playing the role of catalyst.
The moment he returns — which will probably be as soon as their next game — the 76ers will return to playing a backcourt-charged offense with Maxey as the nominal alpha, which is good. After all, that approach on the scoring end has given them an above-average offense.
However, Embiid is clearly someone who is still incredibly difficult to slow down when isolated and given proper spacing. The 76ers recognized that against the Pacers and kept feeding him the ball until he imposed himself on the scoring end or forced his way into the charity stripe.
Against certain teams, the 76ers still need to maximize their clear advantage inside with Embiid even with Maxey on the floor. Put simply, there will be times where resorting to him on the primary will put the team in a better position than just giving the ball to Maxey for him to create extemporaneously. That is something which they have not been consistently good at, as they have become content with playing freestyle whenever both of them are on the hardwood.
This is not to say that the 76ers should start putting a damper on how they use Maxey, but a mere reminder that his role could still be optimized a lot more. In fact, if this team becomes better at recognizing advantages and structure, Maxey’s efficiency could get even better.
Hopefully, the coaching staff will start to slowly do away with their not-so-deliberate plan on the offensive end of giving the main gunners way too much leeway to go get their numbers. The 76ers need a more mature offense, and this rare absence by Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid playing like an absolute stud should be a good opportunity for them to seek better ways to maximize their individual brilliance.