The Sixers had a rough first few minutes on Tuesday night. Then Tyrese Maxey went nuclear, the Sixers flipped a switch and routed the opposition for the rest of the night.
Standing in their way as they tried to extend their winning streak to three games was not just the collective absences of Joel Embiid, Paul George and multiple key role players, but also LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers, winners of four straight games. But a Lakers team on the second leg of a back-to-back was no match for Maxey's brilliant scoring effort, nor the many other Sixers to touch the floor and make an impact, especially once Davis went out due to an injury.
The Sixers have won three consecutive games, and Maxey is looking every bit like an All-Star right now. Here is what stood out from a resounding 118-104 Sixers win on Tuesday:
Maxey and Guerschon Yabusele pull off a rarity
Perhaps for the national television audience watching this game, the main story from the first quarter of this game was Bronny James sharing the floor with his father. While the older James had his way with the Sixers defense early on, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse called an early timeout and clearly got a message across. When Nurse used his first timeout, his team had allowed a dozen points in four minutes and change. For the remaining seven-plus minutes of the opening frame, they only allowed 13 points.
The Sixers honed in on the defensive end in a major way, and it allowed for just two players to do enough offensively to erase a nine-point deficit. After 12 minutes, the Sixers and Lakers were knotted at 25 apiece. But only Maxey and Yabusele actually scored any points for the Sixers in the quarter, as Maxey led all scorers with 15 points and Yabusele added 10 points of his own with a variety of methods of attack. That included this slam over Davis:
beware of the bear. 🐻⚠️ pic.twitter.com/vutAGU6V9z
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 29, 2025
After a few rough misses early on, Maxey found a terrific groove, a continuation of his stellar play over the last several contests. He truly scored at will from all three levels, knocking down a pair of threes, two mid-range jumpers over the younger James and going downhill.
R3SE. pic.twitter.com/Xh1iHJhVOA
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 29, 2025
It is incredibly rare for just two players to account for a team's entire scoring over the course of an NBA quarter. It is even more rare for such an event to not result in a major deficit.
Tyrese Maxey & Guerschon Yabusele had ALL 25 of the Sixers 1st quarter points 🤯
Maxey: 15 PTS | 55.6 FG%
Yabusele: 10 PTS | 71.4 FG%
2Q vs. LAL is LIVE on TNT! pic.twitter.com/fOTOewiE4z— NBA (@NBA) January 29, 2025
While Yabusele spent part of the second quarter in the locker room — he has been dealing with a knee injury in recent weeks which appeared to bother him after a hard fall — Maxey continued his brilliance in the second quarter, scoring another dozen points to enter intermission with 27 in all.
Ricky Council IV provides a major lift
Council's disappointing second season culminated in a G League assignment over the weekend. Council, who said the next day that he appreciated the opportunity to help the Delaware Blue Coats vanquish a losing streak, had a particularly rough outing in the Sixers' horrid loss to the Denver Nuggets last week.
Nurse made the decision midway through the second quarter on Tuesday to ask Council for a few minutes of play. But Council played so well that he remained on the floor for the remainder of the half. His energy helped the Sixers stage a dominant 48-32 second quarter, as he scored nine points and grabbed three rebounds while also notching a steal.
Council punctuated his strong six-minute burst with a corner triple on the Sixers' final possession of the half:
.@Rickythe4th on a heater to end half! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/XJ8FFIcZx8
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 29, 2025
While Council has a long way to go in order to establish himself as a rotation regular for Nurse — especially once players like George, Caleb Martin and KJ Martin are healthy — this was close to the ideal version of a player who, even in a down year, can give the Sixers much-needed jolts.
Odds and ends
Some other noteworthy performances or details from this one:
• Maxey's run of looking like a full-blown star again continued, and perhaps the most significant aspect of his fantastic showing in this one was his ability to be a decisive driver and generate contact. Maxey shot nine free throws in the first half alone, putting constant stress on the Lakers' defense. That is when Maxey is at the absolute top of his game: someone who is always creating pressure for the opposition.
• Not only did Eric Gordon remain in Nurse's starting five, but he took on the assignment of defending the 40-year-old James. Gordon is very much undersized in that matchup, but has enough strength and awareness to survive. In addition to holding his own in one of the tougher defensive situations possible, Gordon continued his red-hot three-point shooting month. After shooting 27.5 percent from beyond the arc as a Sixer through the end of December, Gordon has made over 50 percent of his three-point attempts in January.
• Adem Bona once again found himself in foul trouble in this one, but give the rookie second-round pick this: he remained fearless, and that helped him earn a pair of blocked shots against the NBA's all-time leading scorer.
Adem block ➡️ Kelly lay pic.twitter.com/9raYt4aMbX
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 29, 2025
• Undrafted rookie two-way wing Justin Edwards logged his first NBA start in this one. Prior to the game, Nurse said he believes Edwards has earned the right to stick in the rotation even when the team finds full health. Edwards continued to build that case as he forced a few turnovers and exhibited the strong feel for the game which has helped him endear himself to Nurse. The future is bright for the hometown kid.
Up next: The Sixers will get right back to work on Wednesday night, concluding their latest back-to-back as they host the Sacramento Kings.
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