Maxey Does His Reggie Miller Impression
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Shara Talia Taylor
The Philadelphia 76ers avoided elimination from the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs and kept their season alive with a 112-106 overtime victory against the New York Knicks Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
46 points by Tyrese Maxey, including, seven 3-pointers, and a triple-double (19 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists) by Joel Embiid helped Philadelphia claim the Game 5 win. Philadelphia fell behind in the second quarter, but an extra push before halftime gave the 76ers the momentum to regain speed, take the lead, outscore New York in the 3rd and 4thquarters, and finish the game strong in overtime.
“We had to.,the season on the line,” Maxey said about the win. “We fought for fifty-three minutes and never gave up even when we were down late, the guys still went out there and made plays, and it was big time.”
He said it was mandatory. The 76ers would have been knocked out of the tournament if they lost. New York was ahead 3-1 after Game 4 in Philadelphia.
“Everybody just coming together and really understanding that we can do this,” said Tobias Harris was what pushed him when they were down. “We were at the Garden and had a very bad last minute of basketball, when they beat us and here we are, and was able to kind of rewrite what we wanted in that stretch we were able to have tonight.”
Philadelphia lost Game 2 in New York in the last few seconds of the game, but were able to redeem themselves in the last minute of overtime.
The start seemed like it could be a turn for the worst for the 76ers, similar to Games 1 and 2. Philadelphia started strong as they did in both of those games, but fell behind. The 76ers led 26-17 at the end of the first quarter, but trailed 49-43 at halftime. It was their extra effort right before halftime that ignited the fire. Embiid blocked a shot and Maxey followed it up with a layup, which brought the score to 44-36 with less than 2:12 minutes left in the second quarter. Next Nicolas Batum made a 3-pointer and Embiid added two more points. Maxey finished the first half with a layup in the last seconds.
The 76ers regained the lead in the third quarter after a layup by Maxey bringing the score to 53-51. Philadelphia outscored New York 26-21 in the third quarter alone and 28-27 in the fourth quarter. Teams were tied at 106 in overtime, when Philadelphia took the lead after a layup by Kelly Oubre Jr. and continued to score as they forced a Game 6.
“I think that it’s always going to be a lot of blown defensive things that we did that we have to try to cut down,” said 76ers Head Coach Nick Nurse about the things he wanted to work on before Game 6 as they had 21 turnovers. “Then I just think there is probably a little better rhythm we can play offense as well,” Nurse added.
Teams will meet Thursday night in Philadelphia.
