Amid all the misfortune, Sixers grateful to have Maxey ‘giving it his all’ night after night

Amid all the misfortune, Sixers grateful to have Maxey ‘giving it his all’ night after night originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

CHICAGO — On many occasions this season, it’s seemed that Tyrese Maxey has the whole world on his plate.

He’s dug in very well lately.

The Sixers’ win Saturday night at the United Center brought more injury misfortune and uncertainty; Paul George’s game ended in the second quarter because of a left pinkie finger issue. The fact that Maxey barely left the court allowed the Sixers to complete a perfect back-to-back.

He logged 43 minutes and posted 31 points, nine assists, five rebounds and two steals.

“To be alongside somebody who’s going to give it their all each and every night, he just kind of turns you up and boosts your level of play,” Kelly Oubre Jr. said. “I think it should not go unnoticed that he’s out here each and every night giving it his all. And I’m doing the same thing. So I’m blessed to be alongside him.”

Maxey’s up to 37.9 minutes per game, which ranks second in the NBA. He hasn’t scored under 28 points in a game since Jan. 4.

The 24-year-old’s defensive level certainly hasn’t plummeted either. Like anyone in his position would, Maxey’s shown frustration, disappointment and fatigue here and there through losses, injuries and chaos all around him. But he’s often enabled the Sixers to be competitive while woefully shorthanded.

“We continue to have things thrown at us, with PG going out again,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said. “We’re piecing it together the best we can and the main thing is we’re playing the right way. The defense turned it on when it really needed to, created a lot of turnovers in the fourth quarter. And the offense, again, guys were just making the right play most of the game. If we do that, we will give ourselves a chance to win.

“Throw out that Denver game … and the defense has come (along) without (Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond) in there. We’re having to piece this together way more with help, help the helper, scramble out and all that kind of that stuff, and we’re getting there with that.”

Nurse has needed to make regular on-the-fly adjustments for a 17-27 team accustomed to lengthy injury reports.

However, with one veteran back in the mix, Nurse opted to sit a healthy guard Saturday. Kyle Lowry returned from a right hip injury and Jeff Dowtin Jr. sat on the bench in a hoodie. Lowry checked in next to Reggie Jackson and Nurse even used Lowry-Jackson-Maxey lineups for 10 minutes. He’d taken a similar approach in the Sixers’ Christmas win over the Celtics.

“You guys will remember a while back … to get some backup point kind of protection of playing Reggie and Kyle together,” Nurse said. “And when Kyle’s out, it seemed to make a little more sense to just let Jeff man those minutes. It’s not a ton; it’s nine, 10 minutes. I thought he did an unbelievable job last night (against the Cavs).

“And I figured OK, Kyle’s coming back, let’s go back to the other thing. Jeff just played last night. So it’s a little bit of a Kyle coming back hunch type of thing, and I think it worked out OK.”

Jackson scored 12 points in 15 minutes. Lowry had two points, two assists, a rebound, a steal and a block. The overall results weren’t sparkling and the Sixers sure looked quite small at times, but Maxey still had a glowing review … outside of a good-natured dig at Lowry.

“It’s great,” he said with a smile in the visiting locker room. “It reminds me of Kentucky, honestly. I played in a starting lineup with me, Immanuel Quickley and Ashton Hagans. That lineup was very effective. You’ve got three guys who can penetrate, create their own shot, create shots for others, shoot the ball … and play defense.

“So they’re going to be extremely pesky and bothersome. That group’s great. It was good to have Kyle back. Reggie Jackson made some big shots. Now we just need Kyle to make a three and we’ll be OK.”

With the Sixers leaning into their lack of size, Oubre’s rebounding was essential. He had a second straight excellent performance — 22 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, no turnovers. Over the back-to-back, he grabbed 25 boards.

Has Oubre picked up any tricks of the rebounding trade?

“I played against (Knicks wing) Josh Hart enough to see what he does and how he can impact the game. … It’s just an effort thing,” he said. “It’s just putting yourself in the right positions. The more you do it, the more you get comfortable with finding the ball. And the ball finds energy.

“Nah, there’s no secret to it. It’s just going out there and wanting it more.”

Even with yet another injury, and a back-to-back, and the reality that no preseason predictions had the team outside the play-in tournament spots through 44 games, the Sixers indeed played like they very much wanted a second consecutive win.

They’re still 11th in the Eastern Conference standings, but the Sixers pulled within a game of the Bulls and hold a 2-0 lead in the season series.

“Kyle said it’s a must-win. We’re fighting for our lives right now, so every game is important and this game was extremely important,” Maxey said. “You never know. Like last year, tiebreakers are important. That was my first time seeing it. Last year we had a tiebreaker with one team, a tiebreaker with another team.

“It (can be) the difference between being fourth and 10th. … We don’t know where we’re going to fall in the standings, we don’t know how it’s going to end up, but I think right now it’s just about getting better every single day and keep winning games.”