The Philadelphia 76ers are currently one of the hottest teams in the NBA. Their victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday was their fifth straight, as they are looking to make a move up the Eastern Conference standings.
The 133-126 double-overtime victory over the Spurs pushed the 76ers’ record on the season to 44-35. Coupled with the results of other games around the conference, Philadelphia is now in seventh place in the East, as they jumped the Miami Heat.
Only one game behind the Indiana Pacers for sixth place, the final spot outside of the NBA Play-In Tournament, with three games to go, Philadelphia has a shot to move up further. Their schedule isn’t overly daunting as they have games against the Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic and Brooklyn Nets remaining.
If they receive production from Tyrese Maxey in those games similar to what he provided against San Antonio, they are going to finish the regular season on an eight-game winning streak. On Sunday, Maxey had the best game of his career.
He scored a career-high 52 points, shooting 19-of-41 from the field while knocking down all 12 of his free throw attempts. Maxey added five rebounds and seven assists, as he carried the team with Joel Embiid sidelined for knee injury management.
It was a special performance by Maxey, as the 52 points scored were the most in a game by a 76ers player since Allen Iverson in 2005. Any time you are being mentioned in the same sentence as one of the NBA’s all-time greatest scoring guards, you are doing something right.
To have any chance of catching and surpassing the Pacers, the 76ers need to finish ahead of them in the standings, not tied, as Indiana holds the tiebreaker going 2-1 against Philadelphia during the 2023-24 NBA regular season. That performance by Maxey could not have come at a better time.
A first-round pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Maxey has put himself in position for a massive contract offer this offseason. He is coming off his first All-Star game appearance and scoring outbursts like the one from Sunday will have the 76ers, or another franchise in the league, offering him a max deal.
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