Tyrese Maxey furthers MVP case in statement win

Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) looks to move the ball by Dallas Mavericks guard Ryan Nembhard (9) during the second quarter at the American Airlines Center. Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

76ers PG Tyrese Maxey furthers MVP case with dominant performance in statement win over Mavericks

By Mike J. Asti | Last updated Jan 2, 2026 1:21 AM ET

On the first day of the new year, Tyrese Maxey picked up right where he left off in 2025 and furthered his case to join the MVP conversation with another big-time performance.

Maxey scored 34 points for the second consecutive game as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Dallas Mavericks, 123-108. He connected on 14-of-24 shots from the field for a 58.3% clip and then even sunk four three-pointers on 10 attempts.

And in addition to leading his team in scoring, Maxey completed a double-double and flirted with a triple-double by picking up 10 assists and eight rebounds as well.

Tyrese Maxey has been red-hot as of late

Thursday night also marked back-to-back 34-point games for the 25-year-old Maxey, who shot an even more efficient 61.9% from the field on Tuesday. He registered 12 assists and four boards in a win at Memphis in his last game of the 2025 side of the season.

THURSDAY'S FINAL SCORES

Tyrese Maxey does a little bit of everything as the @sixers win on the road!

VJ Edgecombe: 23 PTS, 9-14 FGM, 4 STL
Joel Embiid: 22 PTS, 6 AST
Quentin Grimes: 19 PTS, 7-9 FGM, 5-7 3PM https://t.co/EIboynlQUC pic.twitter.com/H2NXmSQEly
— NBA (@NBA) January 2, 2026

Maxey has been a scoring machine all season long, too. He has now reached 30 points in 15 out of 30 games.

Overall, Maxey has averages of 30.9 points, 7.2 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting 47.0% from the field and 39.6% from long range.

76ers would likely be nowhere near contention without Tyrese Maxey

The 76ers are now 18-14 thanks to Maxey's recent heroics, moving up to the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference standings. Despite the constant uncertainty surrounding Joel Embiid and Paul George, who had combined to log only 29 games played entering Thursday, Philadelphia is in a firm playoff position because of Maxey.

After finishing the 2024-25 campaign with 26.3 points and 6.1 assists and 3.3 boards per game, Maxey has taken his game to a new level this season.

And when looking around the landscape of the league and the other top players vying for the MVP, there's a door open for Maxey to emerge.

In light of Nikola Jokić being out with a hyperextended left knee, Giannis Antetokounmpo missing games, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his Thunder suffering a couple of key losses to the Spurs, Luka Doncic's defense coming into question as the Lakers have endured an up-and-down recent stretch and Cade Cunningham having worse numbers, Maxey could become the new favorite for the award in no time if he keeps up his current play.

Mike J. Asti

Mike Asti is an experienced media personality and journalist with a vast resume and skillset, most notably from time with TribLIVE Radio and WPXI-TV. Asti now serves as the Managing Editor of WV Sports Now, where he leads the coverage of WVU sports. He has also covered the Steelers, Penguins, Pirates and other teams within the Pittsburgh market

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