Tyrese Maxey showed out at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday in a way that few other NBA players ever have.
With less than 30 seconds left in Game 5 on Tuesday night, the Sixers’ season was on life support. The New York Knicks were up 96-90 and were on the precipice of winning playoff series in back-to-back years for the first time since the Obama administration.
Someone forgot to tell Tyrese Maxey.
Maxey gave the Sixers a glimmer of hope by drilling a three-pointer—which the definitely-not-crooked-refs tried to call a two at first—while drawing a foul on Mitchell Robinson. After Josh Hart split a pair of free throws on the other end, the Sixers were down three with 15 seconds left to play and no timeouts. As PHLY Sports’ Kyle Neubeck said earlier in the night, the Sixers needed “an act of God or Maxey to absolutely lose his mind” to send the game to overtime.
They got both.
MAXEY DRILLS ANOTHER 3 AND TIES THE GAME
GAME 5 IS HEADED TO OVERTIME ON TNT https://t.co/EdhU7mHKQB pic.twitter.com/od3bVWXHMH
— NBA (@NBA) May 1, 2024
The official game log says Maxey hit that shot from 34 feet away from the basket. He is one of only three players this season to drill a go-ahead or game-tying shot from that distance in the fourth quarter or overtime, joining Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Cleveland Cavaliers forward Max Strus. There have been only 20 such shots since the 2011-12 season.
Distill that down to the playoffs, and the list gets even more narrow. There have been only seven instances of a player hitting a game-tying or go-ahead shot from that distance in the fourth quarter or overtime of a playoff game since 1996-97.
Tyrese Maxey is the first player since Damian Lillard in 2020 to hit a game-tying or go-ahead shot in the fourth quarter of a playoff game from 34+ feet. pic.twitter.com/48yKaFma3V
— Bryan Toporek (@btoporek) May 1, 2024
Maxey finished the miraculous 112-106 win with new playoff career highs in points (46), shot attempts (30), and made three-pointers (seven) to go with nine assists, five rebounds and only three turnovers in nearly 52 minutes of action. As Jayson Stark of The Athletic and Josh Schrager of NBC Sports Philadelphia noted, Maxey put himself in historic company with that performance in a potential elimination game.
Most points in an elimination game, 76ers history:
Wilt Chamberlain, 46, Gm 5, 1966 vs. Celtics (Lost)
Tyrese Maxey, 46, tonight vs. Knicks (Won)— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) May 1, 2024
Tyrese Maxey tonight:
First 76er with 45+ pts, 5+ reb, 5+ ast in a playoff game since Allen Iverson in Game 1 of the 2001 NBA Finals
Per sportradar
— Josh Schrager (@Schragz) May 1, 2024
Maxey is only the second player in NBA history to finish with at least 45 points, nine assists and seven made three-pointers in a playoff game. Damian Lillard is the only other one to do it, and his game against the Denver Nuggets in 2021 went to double overtime. He’s also one of only 18 players in league history to hit those marks in either a regular-season or a playoff game, joining the likes of Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Luka Doncic and James Harden. Maxey and LeBron are the only two non-Knicks players to do it in Madison Square Garden.
This wasn’t Maxey’s first MSG masterpiece, mind you. His 35-point, 10-assist, nine-rebound outing in Game 2 will get lost in the annals of time due to egregious officiating mistakes, but he’s now had two legacy-making performances in the World’s Most Famous Arena in the same series. It is nearly incomprehensible seeing him seize the reins on one of the NBA’s biggest stages considering how many shrinking violets the Sixers have been cursed with in recent years.
The Sixers were only in position for Maxey’s remarkable late-game heroics because he missed three free throws earlier in the fourth quarter. That’s what he was fixated on after the game.
“I’m a happy guy, but I absolutely hate losing,” Maxey said. “Especially when it’s certain times like I miss three crucial free throws, then I turn the ball over late. I was really upset and I just wanted to go out there and make up for it for my teammates. I feel like I played pretty well the whole game, and for us to lose a game like that, end the season like that, I would have been crushed.”
Instead, he crushed the nearly 20,000 in attendance at Madison Square Garden.
Respect to Maxey…but damn…I’m clearly getting too old for this shit… pic.twitter.com/XjOkPOfaaQ
— Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) May 1, 2024
It’s hard to blame them for feeling that way. As Nate Duncan tweeted after the game, Maxey helped the Sixers steal victory from the jaws of defeat in an unprecedented fashion.
Another all-time finish in 76ers-Knicks pic.twitter.com/z5Ia8vnDmF
— Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) May 1, 2024
No matter what happens in Thursday’s Game 6, Maxey has resoundingly answered the biggest non-Harden question that the Sixers had entering the season. He has aced his test as a No. 2 option in both the regular season, when he was named an All-Star for the first time in his career, and the playoffs, which he began with back-to-back 30-point outings prior to Tuesday’s eruption.
The fine folks across the Hot Take Industry will inevitably use this performance to lobby for the Sixers trading Joel Embiid and building around Maxey moving forward. While Embiid scuffled through a tough Game 5—he finished with 19 points on 7-of-19 shooting, 16 rebounds, 10 assists and nine turnovers—he also made some critical defensive plays in overtime. The Sixers have been getting annihilated with him off the floor all series, too.
Embiid might not be able to single-handedly carry the Sixers on both ends of the floor for an entire playoff series, but how many players can? Jokic is likely on the precipice of winning his third MVP award in four years, yet Jamal Murray is the one who hit two game-winning jumpers in the Denver Nuggets’ first-round series victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
As Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports wrote, there doesn’t need to be an either/or debate about Embiid and Maxey. Just think back to how pitiful the Sixers looked in the wake of Embiid’s meniscus injury earlier this season. Not only do Embiid and Maxey complement one another, but they amplify one another’s strengths. Being able to lean on Maxey to carry the Sixers home might help Embiid keep some gas left in the tank late in games.
Ironically, the Sixers have Game 4 to thank for the reemergence of Fourth Quarter Maxey.
“I just remember the last fourth quarter [Game 4], I wasn’t in rhythm, I didn’t play well, I wasn’t aggressive. I refused to let that happen this time,” Maxey said after the game. “I came out aggressive as soon as the fourth quarter started, as soon as we got the ball, I was going out there aggressive.”
Head coach Nick Nurse has spent most of the season pleading with Maxey to be more aggressive, only for it to come in fits and starts. If this version of Maxey is here to stay moving forward, that could drastically alter both the Sixers’ offseason plans and their future outlook.
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.