The Washington Wizards came to town Tuesday night. They were fresh off a win Monday — their third win in 19 games, to be exact — against old friend Doc Rivers and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Since Washington is a franchise more interested in ping-pong balls than victories, their injury list for a matchup against the Sixers was beefy. It was a ripe opportunity for the home team to get back on track, while perhaps also allowing their own lengthy list of injured players to get healthy.
Only two regulars had played in every game this season going into the matchup against the Wizards. One of them was Quentin Grimes, who was listed as probable, then questionable, before eventually being ruled out just before tip-off.
The other was Tyrese Maxey, who miraculously has not missed a game despite leading the NBA in minutes by a healthy margin. He was also coming off playing a season-high 52 minutes in a double overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks Sunday.
The stars finally aligned as the Sixers took down Washington in a laugher 121-102. The 25-year-old guard played 29 minutes, far below his average of over 40 a game and easily his lowest minutes total of the season, while sitting out the fourth quarter.
“Sure was,” Nick Nurse said when asked if it was good to get Maxey off his feet. “I think we had a good chance to kind of trim down everybody there a lot more than we probably anticipated, so good all around, but especially good for him.”
A lot has been made of Maxey’s minutes. As Joel Embiid, Paul George and a slew of other Sixers have missed time, it’s been on Maxey to carry a cumbersome load. The win Tuesday improved the team’s record to 11-9. It’s nothing to do cartwheels over, but the context matters.
Because of injuries and poor play, the Sixers were 5-15 at the 20-game mark last season. They didn’t win their 11th game in 2024-25 until Christmas Day. The biggest differences are the team’s emphasis on acquiring younger players and the MVP-caliber play of Maxey.
There’s an argument to be made that Nurse’s usage of Maxey has been necessary to keep the team above water. With that said, it feels like Nurse has had opportunities to give Maxey a bit more rest and has chosen not to. In any case, Tuesday represented a best-case scenario of securing an easy win while giving the star guard a respite.
And he helped make the drubbing possible by recording 35 points — 20 in the third quarter alone — six assists, four rebounds, four steals and a block in 29 minutes.
“I just wanted to be aggressive,” Maxey said, “give us a comfortable lead so we could be professional and try to finish that game out.”
The hope is Maxey’s Herculean efforts through the first quarter of the season won’t be in vain. He’s averaged 32.5 points per game, good for third in the NBA behind reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and perennial MVP candidate Luka Doncic. As mentioned, he’s played in every game while being asked to carry his team.
Something has to give if the Sixers hope to remain competitive and keep Maxey upright.
Will Embiid and George play consistently to lighten the burden? Will someone like VJ Edgecombe or Jared McCain ascend to relieve some pressure?
Both Edgecombe and McCain were solid Tuesday. Both guards have also missed time this season. Edgecombe appears fully recovered from the calf injury that cost him three games. McCain is looking more like himself after missing the first six games of the season while recovering from knee and thumb surgeries.
Maxey’s teammates know it’s up to them to keep their leader fresh.
“When we come out a lot of times it’s like, ‘Alright, let’s just get ‘Rese some rest, man,’” McCain said. “Even when he comes to the bench, he goes straight to sit down, give him time to breathe and rest. So, definitely a responsibility — me, VJ, all the guards take and something we’ve got to help him with.“
It’s important they do — the Sixers won’t play the Wizards again until 2026.
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