Tyrese Maxey has the ball at half court. Miles McBride is standing in front of him. One speed demon against another with Game 1 of the Knicks first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers hanging in the balance.
It’s the Sixers’ opening possession of the fourth quarter, and thanks to Maxey’s all-world level acceleration, they’ve come back from down 14 in the third quarter to take a lead at the top of the final period. The Sixers All-Star guard has already run up 24 points on close to 50 percent shooting from the field.
He would finish the night with a game-high 33 points, 20 of which came on drives to the rim, plus another four at the charity stripe.
Sixers forward Nic Batum flares up from the right side to set a screen on McBride. Knicks forward Bojan Bogdanovic follows, and when Maxey takes the screen, Bogdanovic attempts to trap him to take away the right side.
This is where Maxey’s speed comes into play — and where McBride’s quickness is a series-shifter for a Knicks team poised to make a second straight trip to the second round of the playoffs.
Maxey attempts to split Bogdanovic and McBride with a crossover to the paint, but McBride reads the play. He leaves Batum, pokes the ball away from Maxey and vaults it up the floor, where the Knicks get into a half court offensive set.
Maxey did his damage.
With Joel Embiid clearly limited re-injuring his meniscus now twice since returning from early February left knee surgery, the Sixers will lean heavily on their budding All-Star guard.
The Knicks will have to find answers, and they need to look no further than the third-year guard known primarily as “Deuce.”
Maxey averaged 26.3 points per game through three regular season games against the Knicks this year, but McBride is New York’s best shot at slowing down a speedster in the first round of the playoffs.
“This is our fifth time playing [the Sixers] this year,” McBride said after the Knicks’ Game 1 victory. “So I think his speed is definitely one of his best attributes.
“But I feel like I’m pretty fast, too.”
Maxey’s speed, of course, can turn a game.
It’s the first thing head coach Tom Thibodeau says when asked about the issues the Sixers’ All-Star guard poses on the defensive end.
Yes, Philadelphia boasts a bastion of weapons — the former league MVP (Embiid), a former 20 point-per-game scorer (Tobias Harris), plus a versatile wing in Kelly Oubre Jr. and some quality options off the bench — but with Embiid’s physical limitations (he is questionable for Game 2 after hurting his knee in the first half of Game 1), Maxey will assume a larger offensive responsibility for a desperate Sixers team.
“[His] speed. Speed is a major concern because he gets downhill to the rim,” Thibodeau said ahead of tipoff on Saturday. “His shooting has really improved. So you combine those two things, it’s a lot. So we’re going to have to guard him with our team, as we would with Joel.”
Maxey shot 14-of-26 from the field and 10-of-14 on drives to the rim in Game 1. He had a modest 12-point first half before erupting for 21 over the final two periods.
“I had some really good looks in the first half, some shots that rimmed out. I got one blocked and then just some threes that just, for me, just looked like they were going down so I just tried to stay aggressive, got downhill, was able to make some plays for others that would get to the basket and got to the free throw line I think once it was good. I feel like I was confident getting downhill and doing different things like that. You have got to be physical.”
“In many ways, he’s an offense unto himself,” Thibodeau added postgame. “So we’ve gotta take care of that with our team.”
The Knicks had success, however, funneling Maxey into mid-range jump shots. He went 0-of-2 on a pair of open running baseline jumpers. He also struggled finishing over Mitchell Robinson at the rim, though the Sixers adjusted by hunting Robinson as a switch.
Maxey sought this matchup frequently in the final period, and his foot speed got the step on Knicks defensive stopper OG Anunoby early in the game, too.
Not bad for Maxey’s first stint as point guard after the Sixers traded James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers to start the season.
“He’s trying to find his way,” 76ers head coach Nick Nurse said of his point guard. “I think he was really awesome in the second half. Again, it’s his first playoff game as a lead point guard. I think he played a hell of a game. He played a lot of minutes and played a hell of a game. That as a first playoff game.”
Maxey will only get better from here. Nurse is a creative and detailed coach who will adjust to the Knicks’ game plan in Game 2. The star guard’s speed is a clear advantage. Knicks starters had difficulty containing the Sixers’ ace on Saturday.
If they struggle again in Game 2 on Monday, Thibodeau will turn back to McBride, who is also in his first extended playoff run, not just for the defense, but for the hot shooting stroke responsible for flipping Game 1 on Saturday.
“If you’re looking at it from the outside, you don’t see the work that he does every day. And then every time he’s gotten an opportunity he’s responded well,” Thibodeau said. “There’s things that he does that you know will translate. The defense is always going to be there, the hustle is always going to be there and his shooting — he’s done an incredible amount of work on his shooting. It shows and credit to him, he’s worked extremely hard. He’s got great versatility because he can guard multiple positions.”
