“No moment is too big for him, there’s a joy that he plays with” - JJ Redick praises Tyrese Maxey’s fearlessness, believes the 76ers-Heat series is on
Joel Embiid's return and Tyrese Maxey's second-half burst led the Philadelphia 76ers to a blowout win over the Miami Heat. They won 99-79 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The series is now 2-1 in favor of the Heat.
Although quiet on the offensive end, Embiid's defense and rebounding gave the 76ers a much needed edge. Philadelphia out rebounded the Heat, 44-35, for the first time in the series.
Tyrese Maxey and Danny Green led the charge for the 76ers offensively, scoring 21 points each. Danny Green shot seven for nine from three-point range, a staggering 77.8%. Harden and Embiid chipped in with 17 and 18 points, respectively.
JJ Redick, on ESPN's "Sportscenter with Scott Van Pelt," commented on Maxey's offensive prowess and his fearlessness on the court, stating:
"There's a fearlessness that Maxey has, no moment is too big for him, there's a joy that he plays with, he had a slow first-half of the game, zero for three.
"All of a sudden he just had this burst, and as good as Joel was at times and James Harden was at times...it was Tyrese Maxey's outburst that really created the separation there for the 76ers to win this game."
Tyrese Maxey and Danny Green pushed the Sixers past the Heat, but the Heat still have the upper hand
The Miami Heat's performance on Friday sums up the NBA today. It's a make or miss league.
The Heat had more offensive boards than the 76ers and turned the ball over 11 times as opposed to the 76ers 18. They also arguably had better looks than Philadelphia.
Despite all of this, Philadelphia won by 20 points, a massive margin, especially for a playoff game. We can credit the 76ers defense, their physicality and the fact that Embiid single-handedly locked up Bam Adebayo.
But the fact of the matter remains, the Heat shot 23.3% from the three-point line, as opposed to Sixers' 48.5%. Not only is that an outlier in terms of how bad the Heat were from the promised land, but also in terms of how good the 76ers were.
Joel Embiid looked like a shell of himself out there (he still managed to get to the line five times, on par with his average of six), but got the work done defensively. Tyrese Maxey scored 14 points in the fourth quarter after going scoreless in the first half.
All of Danny Green's nine field-goal attempts were three-pointers, and he made seven of them. These are, at best, outliers. With home court advantage, unless Embiid is playing like the MVP he should be, the Heat are more likely to advance to the conference finals.