Tyrese Maxey saved the Philadelphia 76ers' season on Tuesday night as he went off for 46 points and made an unbelievable 34-foot bomb in the final seconds of regulation to facilitate five more minutes instead of another early elimination. It was the greatest performance of his life and a coming-out party of sorts, although basketball fans are more than familiar with his potential and ability to carry a team on his back while hot.
The series now shifts back to Philadelphia where the locals will be louder and more enthused as they try to force a do-or-die Game 7 back at Madison Square Garden.
Maxey is now averaging 32.4 points per game in the battle with New York and has been thoroughly efficient, shooting 50.0 percent from the field. And the Sixers needed a second star to emerge more than ever in Game 5 as Joel Embiid struggled mightily. Despite collecting a triple double, the big man looked once again like the weight of the world was on a broken body, turning the ball over an unsustainable 10 times and not exactly rising to the moment.
