Philadelphia 76ers rookie Tyrese Maxey turned heads during his 12 minutes of play in the Sixers preseason victory over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night, and it caught the attention of teammate Ben Simmons, among others.
“He dominated once he got the jitters and the excitement out of the way,” Simmons said of Maxey, according to Yahoo Sports’ Cody Taylor. “He slowed the game down and got to what he has been working on. I’ve seen him numerous hours doing those floaters and working on his game. To me, it’s not a surprise but it’s great to see all of that work pay off. He’s going to be great, offensively and defensively, once he learns concepts and things like that.”
Maxey connected on 4-of-6 shots to log 8 points, 1 rebound, and 3 assists, but his impact wasn’t totally measured by the box score.
“He’s good. He’s a good player,” Sixers head coach Doc Rivers added. “He’s gotta push for minutes because he is a good basketball player. He knows how to play. You can’t speed him up. He’s got a plethora of shots. He makes simple plays. I’m throwing this out to [Kentucky head coach John Calipari], I’ve said this before, Kentucky guys come into the NBA prepared. This kid knows how to defend, he talks on defense.”
