BBNBA: Tyrese Maxey leads 76ers to Game 3 victory

Though there were only a pair of games Friday night in the NBA, we still had plenty of action from some of our former ‘Cats, particularly Tyrese Maxey and Devin Booker leading their squads to wins. Let’s dive in.

Friday’s Results

(1) Suns 94 @ (4) Mavericks 103 | PHX leads series 2-1

(1) Heat 79 @ (4) 76ers 99 | MIA leads 2-1

Young gun holding his own in the playoffs

The sun most definitely came back to Philadelphia on Friday as the 76ers were able to avoid a 3-0 deficit by dominating Miami en route to a 20-point victory.

Reasonably, all the chatter coming in to this game would be the status of Joel Embiid. The MVP candidate missing any more games would be brutal for this team, as we’ve seen them struggle mightily without him. Somehow, he was able to play 36 minutes, grabbing a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds despite missing the first two games with a fractured orbital bone and mild concussion.

The star of the show however was Tyrese Maxey, who showed in a pretty interesting way why he’s a playoff performer.

Tyrese Maxey recorded 0 total points in the first half tonight.

He finished with 21 points, 5 threes on 63% shooting from the field. pic.twitter.com/4Jb27GfE2J

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) May 7, 2022

Maxey led the team with 21 points on 7-11 from the field with an exceptional 5-6 mark from deep. He’s showing the capability to lead a team in the playoffs in only his second year — pretty decent I’d say.

Tyrese Maxey had 21 points in the second half last night 🔥🔥

That’s his third half with 20+ points this postseason

Only Joel Embiid and AI have more 20+ point halves for the Sixers over last 25 years
pic.twitter.com/4LlRm5XeMN

— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) May 7, 2022

On the other bench, our ‘Cats struggled throughout the night. Bam Adebayo went 2-9 from the field, grabbing only three rebounds in 34 minutes on the floor for Miami. Tyler Herro had another cold shooting night, putting up 14 points on a 5-15 mark off the bench.

Suns trip up down in Dallas

Devin Booker and the Suns couldn’t make up a double-digit deficit, falling 103-94 to the Mavericks on Friday night to make it a 2-1 series.

Booker and Chris Paul each had off nights for Phoenix, scoring 18 and 12 points, respectively. The former Kentucky guard didn’t even shoot that poorly, going 6-13 from the field, it just seemed as if he wasn’t as involved as he should’ve been.

The Mavericks offense was also testing Booker on the defensive side of the ball all night long, particularly Luka Doncic.

Statistics

Player	Result	Points	FG (3PA)	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks	Turnovers	Minutes	+/-
Tyrese Maxey (PHI)	99-79 W vs. MIA	21	7-11 (5-6)	2	6	2	0	2	39	17
Devin Booker (PHX)	103-94 L @ DAL	18	6-13 (4-6)	2	6	0	0	5	40	-12
Tyler Herro (MIA)	99-79 L @ PHI	14	5-15 (2-7)	4	1	0	0	2	27	-16
Bam Adebayo (MIA)	99-79 L @ PHI	9	2-9	3	1	2	0	3	34	-22

Today in the NBA

3:30 p.m. (ABC) (2) Celtics @ (3) Bucks | Series tied 1-1

8:30 p.m. (ABC) (2) Grizzlies @ (3) Warriors | Series tied 1-1