Tyrese Maxey greets John Calipari after 76ers take 2-0 series lead against Nets
Kentucky head coach John Calipari was in the front row for Tyrese Maxey‘s masterful performance for the Philadelphia 76ers against the Brooklyn Nets during Monday night’s 96-84 playoff victory.
Maxey was one-point shy of his playoff career-high, scoring 33 points to improve his team’s series lead to 2-0. The former one-and-done Kentucky star made six three-pointers in the contest in 40 minutes on the court. He was far and away Phili’s best shooter on the night.
After the game, the two embraced before Maxey left the court following the final buzzer. Catch the feel-good moment between the two Wildcats below:
The crown jewel of Kentucky’s 2019 recruiting class, Maxey never posted 30 points for Calipari while in Lexington. His career-high was 27 points in an overtime win against Louisville.
BBNBA in full effect in the NBA Playoffs
What hasn’t a Kentucky player done since the NBA Playoffs began? Whether it’s good or bad, a former UK basketball player has made some type of noise in nearly every series the NBA has to offer during the first round. Maxey’s 33-point performance is just the tip of the iceberg.
Here’s a quick breakdown:
Let’s start with the bad. Tyler Herro broke his hand — then made a three-pointer — during Game 1 of Miami’s upset over Milwaukee and will not return for the rest of the playoffs. Anthony Davis also suffered a ‘stinger’ in the Lakers win over the Grizzlies.
De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk are doing their thing in Sacramento, scoring a combined 70 points against the defending NBA Champion Warriors in what was the Kings’ first playoff win in nearly two decades.
Julius Randle, Devin Booker, Bam Adebayo, Jamal Murray and Karl-Anthony Towns are also expected to play major roles for their respective squads this postseason. Murray’s Nuggets and Towns’ Timberwolves ended up matching up against each other in the first-round, too for some Cat-on-KAT NBA action.
In all, a league-high 17 Kentucky players have participated in the NBA postseason this year. Below is a breakdown of each Kentucky player per team.
Denver Nuggets (1) – Jamal Murray
Los Angeles Clippers (1) – Brandon Boston Jr.
Los Angeles Lakers (3) – Anthony Davis, Wenyen Gabriel, Jarred Vanderbilt
Miami Heat (2) – Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro
Minnesota Timberwolves (1) – Karl-Anthony Towns
New York Knicks (2) – Immanuel Quickley, Julius Randle
Oklahoma City Thunder (2) – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Olivier Sarr
Philadelphia 76ers (1) – Tyrese Maxey
Phoenix Suns (1) – Devin Booker
Sacramento Kings (3) – De’Aaron Fox, Trey Lyles, Malik Monk