Nine games, 28.0 points, 37.0 minutes, 5.4 assists, and an 8-1 team. We went looking for the asterisk. Here's what we found.
Tyrese Maxey is averaging 28.0 points through nine games. He's playing 37.0 minutes a night and handing out 5.4 assists, per his ESPN game log. He's scored 20 or more in eight of the nine.
The Sixers are 8-1. Before Detroit, his 233 points in eight games came to 29.125 a night, the rail's rounded 29. After 19 more, it's 252 in nine, or 28.0. Those are different cutoffs, not competing averages.
The production deserves the praise. The workload is worth checking.
His quiet night was Wednesday in Detroit. Nineteen points on 5-of-16 shooting, per the NBA.com box score. That's the floor right now. And on that "off" night he still had seven assists, made all six free throws, and the Sixers won 112-106 because Jaylen Brown dropped 30 and Joel Embiid had 26 and 15.
That's not a crack. That's the whole point of the roster. Maxey doesn't have to carry the night for this team to win.
Now the actual yeah, but. It's the minutes. He's at 37.0 a game, and he played 39:34 in the opener at New York and 41:39 against Cleveland. ESPN rounds those to 40 and 42, but only the Cleveland game actually cleared 40 minutes. Nine games in, that's a lot of miles for a guy sharing the floor with three other guys who need the ball.
And here's one more for the group chat. His best game of the season was 38 at Charlotte. The Sixers' only loss? Detroit at home on Oct. 25, when Maxey scored 29. His scoring line isn't what decides whether this team wins.
So what are we doing here? Honestly, enjoying it. It's nine games. The minutes are worth watching. The production is just great, and you're allowed to say so.
Next up is Friday at Cleveland, 7:30 p.m. ET. The Cavs are the team he played 41:39 against. Keep an eye on that number.
LeBron James goes back to Cleveland tonight, and he is not coming alone. He is bringing the best team in the East, a five-game win streak, and a reminder of the 29-point lead the Cavs blew the last time these teams met.
The Sixers are 8-1 and 7-0 when games enter clutch time. Maxey is third in the league in clutch points. ESPN has them languishing bottom-10 in offensive efficiency while sitting top-three defensively; Basketball-Reference has them 20th ORtg / 2nd DRtg. Cleveland, 7:30 ET, NBA Cup. Sample size still applies.
The Sixers are 8-1 with a roster that includes LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown and Tyrese Maxey. Their local TV booth finished 29th of 30 in Awful Announcing's reader poll for the third year in a row. The idea that Marc Zumoff was part of the game without becoming the game does not fully hold up in the record.
Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown and Tyrese Maxey count $156,492,622 against the NBA's $164.961 million salary cap this season, 94.87 percent of it (Spotrac). Their deals all run through 2028-29, and Embiid's last year is a Spotrac-listed player option. On projected caps their share keeps climbing.
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