Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain shut down questions about size of Sixers backcourt: ‘Who says we are small?’

Seated on the dais, Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain were asked if they can destroy the myth that smaller guards can’t coexist in the same backcourt.

“Who says we are small?” Maxey responded. “That’s crazy. I don’t feel like I’m small.”

Asked by the reporter how tall he was, Maxey, who is listed at 6-foot-2, said “taller than you.”

That led to the 6-3 McCain adding, “and I’m taller than him.”

While it’s true that the 76ers tandem was taller than the 5-11 reporter, the duo is on the smaller side when compared to other NBA backcourts (all jokes aside).

But that didn’t hinder Maxey and McCain in Friday night’s 113-98 NBA Cup victory over the Brooklyn Nets at the Wells Fargo Center.

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They combined to score 56 points, enabling the Sixers (3-12, 1-2 NBA Cup) to snap a five-game losing streak.

McCain finished with a team-high 30 points and made 6 of 11 three-pointers to go with five rebounds, three assists and two steals in 38 minutes, 40 seconds. Maxey, an All-Star, added 26 points on 11-for-17 shooting along with five assists, four rebounds, and a game-high four steals in 26:30. The fifth-year veteran was playing on a minutes restriction in his second game back from a strained right hamstring.

Maxey and McCain shined the brightest with the game on the line.

McCain (14 points) and Maxey (nine) combined to score 23 of the Sixers’ 34 fourth-quarter points.

However, there is a belief that pairing two guards of their stature is a liability. Typically, smaller guards are paired with a defensive player standing at least 6-5.

“We both play hard,” said McCain, explaining why the undersized backcourt can work. “I think a lot of the game is just playing hard. At this point, they’re going to try to get the mismatch. They’re going to have an offensive scheme to try to go at us. But as long as we play hard, I think we will be able to hold our own.

“That’s something that a lot of people don’t do. And I think we give a lot of effort, give a lot of energy, and I think we can make up for that.”

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Friday marked McCain’s second career 30-point performance after he tallied 34 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Nov. 13. The 20-year-old’s six three-pointers also tied a career high.

The 16th overall pick in June’s NBA draft has scored at least 20 points in seven consecutive games. He joins Hall of Famer Allen Iverson (11 times), Joel Embiid (10) and Jerry Stackhouse (eight) as the only Sixers rookies to accomplish this feat.

Dominating play, McCain is averaging 26.1 points on 50.8% shooting — including 45.6% of his three-pointers during this stretch.

In addition, he has three games with at least five threes. After making his fifth three-pointer with 5:24 left, McCain yelled “I’m the rookie of the year!” while running down court.

“I did say [that],” he said. “It was pretty clear. It’s one of my goals for the season, obviously. But it’s just that competitiveness coming out of me. I respect every other rookie in this league. But obviously, I’m believing in myself. And yeah, some words definitely came out at that point.”

» READ MORE: Jared McCain and Tyrese Maxey’s big nights stop Sixers’ losing streak at five with win over Nets

Meanwhile, Maxey’s four steals tied a career high. This was also his second career game with at least 25 points, five assists and four steals. The reigning league Most Improved Player scored 16 of his points in the second half on 7-for-11 shooting.

It was hard to tell that he was regaining his rhythm in his second game back after being sidelined six games. Instead, he and McCain showed that they could develop into a lethal scoring tandem.

“There were a couple of plays where we didn’t get a great shot,” Maxey said. “So, I was like, look [Nick] Nurse, we’ll figure it out. We’ll go flat, me and him will play the ball screen, either he’ll make a good play, or I’ll make a good play. When you have two ball handlers out there it makes the game a lot easier.”

Against the Nets (6-10, 1-2), the duo shared the ball handling duties. That enabled each player to catch their breath when off the ball.

“I know he’s going to make the right play,” Maxey said. “I know I’m going to try to make the right play as well when you have guys flying around and making shots and playing extremely hard on defense and offense as well.”

McCain added it’s “pretty easy” playing with Maxey. He also mentioned the attention the other guard draws.

“Any time he has the ball I feel like I’m open because they always are inching towards him when he’s about to drive,” McCain said. “I’m just ready. I’m ready for anything that he passes my way, and vice versa. I think it’s easy to play, like he said, with both ball handlers out there. So, I just try to play off this great guy.”

In regards to the similarities in energy the two have found, McCain first noticed in during training camp in the Bahamas.

“I think just having competitiveness is something, that’s not as rare, but it’s cool to see it in other small ... regular-sized guards,” said McCain, who chuckled after catching himself. “But, yeah, just that competitiveness brings energy; we feed off of each other. I feed off that.”