Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey strives to end struggles, fill void left by James Harden: ‘I’ve been pretty bad’

When a third-quarter free throw bounced off the rim Thursday night in Atlanta, the customary hand smacks with teammates between attempts for the normally jovial Tyrese Maxey turned more forceful.

His reaction during the 76ers’ 104-95 road loss to the Hawks epitomized a frustrating three-game stretch for Maxey, who has shot 29.7% on 21.3 field-goal attempts per game since becoming more of a lead ballhandler in the absence of injured All-Star James Harden. Instead of leaning on the gifts that make Maxey one of the NBA’s most exciting and effective young scorers, he and coach Doc Rivers say the third-year guard is forcing things and overthinking as the Sixers continue to sputter through a 5-7 start.

“I’ve got to step up,” Maxey said following Thursday’s loss, during which he shot 5-of-17 from the floor. “These last three games, I’ve been pretty bad. It is what it is. You’ve got to keep pushing.”

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Maxey’s sharp career ascension has primarily been as a complement to some combination of MVP runner-up Joel Embiid, proven scorer Tobias Harris and/or Harden, offering the potential for an outburst at any time because of his blazing speed and dangerous three-point shot.

He averaged 17.5 points per game on 48.5% shooting (including a blistering 42.7% from beyond the arc), 4.3 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game during his first season as a full-time starter in 2021-22. During this season’s first nine games, Maxey put up 24.2 points on 51.6% shooting (46.8% from three-point range), 3.4 assists and 3.4 rebounds in the Sixers’ — even when Embiid missed three of those contests with a non-COVID illness.

Yet this is not the first time the Sixers have relied on Maxey to be more of an offense-initiator and critical-scoring option for an extended period. He was plopped into a similar role around this time last season, first as the starting point guard when Ben Simmons made his trade demand and never played again for the Sixers and then as a heavy shot taker when Embiid and Harris spent time in COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

Now, though, opponents are much more familiar with Maxey’s strengths and style. He notices defenses collapsing to stop him when he starts getting downhill with the ball in his hands. Rivers emphasized that the coaching staff must help Maxey identify the correct shots to take, while remaining aggressive.

“His fail-safe button right now is, when he struggles, he forces it even more instead of letting the game come to him,” Rivers said following Thursday’s loss. " … I thought he took a lot of tough ones [against the Hawks]. We’ve just got to get him back to taking the right shots.”

Maxey attempted a career-high 29 field goals during a Nov. 4 loss to the New York Knicks, acknowledging after the game that he did not attack the defense properly when it began switching more as the Sixers’ double-digit lead slipped away in the fourth quarter. After Maxey saw the open teammates he missed during film study, though, Rivers thought the guard overcorrected during Monday’s victory against the Phoenix Suns. The coach counted at least six times when Maxey “had no business not getting in the paint, and he didn’t.”

“This is where you’ve got to be so careful with young players,” Rivers said. “He watches the film and he sees all these guys open. I thought he played an entire game predetermining trying to come off to be a passer. I thought he got stuck [Monday] in that.

“[It’s] not a big change, but we’ve got to get him back to, ‘You’re a scorer. Be a scorer, and let us complain about you missing guys.’”

Rivers does not expect Maxey to replicate the elite playmaking of Harden, who entering Friday led the NBA in assists with 10 per game. Rivers used a possession during the Knicks game as an example, when a teammate was not in the right spot to receive the pass and Maxey tried to deliver it anyway but turned it over.

“If that was me at point guard,” Rivers said, “I would have backed up and pointed at him [to say], ‘Get your butt over here, so I can throw it to you so we have the angle.’ He’s not at that point yet, so he picked the ball up and tried to throw it himself. …

“Those are the little things you have to live with right now, and I’m fine with that.”

Maxey, however, has pinpointed ways he can make better decisions off the dribble.

He says he can facilitate in the paint by “spraying” the ball out to three-point shooters or dumping it off inside when he is swarmed by defenders. He acknowledged he has been driving to the basket with the intention of drawing contact instead of scoring — perhaps not coincidentally after Rivers and Harris said recently that Maxey deserved more foul calls. Assistant coach Sam Cassell has also been encouraging Maxey to use his pull-up jumper and other moves he has developed via his diligent work ethic.

“You’ve got to just trust it,” Maxey said.

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Maxey’s voice wavered slightly while talking late Thursday about his competitiveness and desire to help the Sixers win. But when asked about the possibility of his confidence dipping, his wide smile briefly returned while saying, “I’m not worried about confidence, I ain’t gonna lie.” Maxey also has the belief of his superstar big man, who stressed Thursday, “I don’t care if he’s 0-for-30. He just needs to shoot.”

“I told him, ‘I don’t care if three guys are on you. Just let it fly. I trust you,’” Embiid added. “He just needs to get out of that mentality and just be himself.”

After all, it’s barely been two weeks since Maxey’s 44-point avalanche in Toronto, when he began the game 10-of-10 from the floor and 7-of-7 from three-point range. When reminded the Sixers still have 70 regular-season games remaining, Maxey responded with, “Dang, that just sounds crazy.”

Now, it’s up to Maxey to make sure his three-game slump is remembered as an early-season blip.

“The road blocks, we have to run through it,” he said. “… We have to [be] a semitruck and we have to go through it — and we have to do it together.”