Wilt, AI, and now Maxey, and other takeaways from the Sixers’ win over the Spurs
Maxey joined some elite company with his 52 points against San Antonio. And 76ers coach Nick Nurse calls upon Ricky Council IV to spark the comeback.
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SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Tyrese Maxey joined the 76ers’ all-time greats.
The coaching staff can depend on Ricky Council IV in clutch situations. And the Sixers should have never had to dig themselves out of a huge deficit against the San Antonio Spurs.
Those three things stood out in Sunday’s 133-126 double-overtime victory at Frost Bank Center.
Elite company
Maxey finished with a game-high 52 points to join Joel Embiid and Hall of Famers Allen Iverson and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in franchise history with at least three 50-point performances in a season.
“That’s crazy,” the All-Star guard said. “I was just talking about it earlier. But I mean, I’m just blessed and thankful to be in any category with those three guys. Two of them are already Hall of Famers and one of them is going to be a Hall of Famer soon.
“So for me, my little self to be mentioned with those guys, hey, I’m happy. Blessed!”
The Sixers (44-35) are 3-0 when Maxey has scored at least 50 points.
He had 50 points in their 137-126 victory over the Indiana Pacers at the Wells Fargo Center on Nov. 12. He scored 51 points to lead the Sixers to a 127-124 victory over the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center. And he also willed the Sixers to victory on Sunday.
» READ MORE: Tyrese Maxey scores a career-high 52 as Sixers top Spurs in double OT for fifth straight win
“We needed that tonight,” Nico Batum said following the game. “Tyrese has been amazing for us all year long. And that’s the third 50-point game and we were missing Joel [Embiid]. We were missing Kyle [Lowry], and we were missing a couple of other guys.
“We could have easily said, ‘This is not our night. We are playing on back-to-back nights.’ No, he didn’t give up. He led the way for us. He kept fighting. When your best players keep playing that way, it’s like, ‘OK guys you have to play super.’”
The dependable Council
With the Sixers in need of a spark, Council entered the game for the first time to start the fourth quarter and never left. Playing the entire fourth quarter and two overtimes, the two-way player ended up logging 22 minutes.
“I got a tap on the shoulder, saying they need energy, so be ready,” Council said. “Coach came down with the board. My name was on the board. That type of confidence, and they know I have that type of energy to impact the game, was big.
» READ MORE: This time, with a Tyrese Maxey, reinvesting in Joel Embiid and the Sixers is smart
“So I had to go out there and do it, and we came out with the win.”
He finished with 11 points and a game-high four steals.
Shouldn’t have come to this
The Sixers had a thrilling come-from-behind victory. It was a game when they trailed by 13 points before turning it on. Following Maxey’s lead, the Sixers made clutch plays to escape with the victory over the Western Conference’s worst team.
“That’s a great win,” Nico Batum said. “But we can’t put ourselves in that position. The second quarter was the worst.”
» READ MORE: Joel Embiid doesn’t need regular-season awards. He’s already won just by being back out on the floor.
That’s when they were outscored, 40-23.
“That was insane,” Batum said.
The Sixers led by 31-24 after one quarter. However, they shot 33.3% in the second quarter — including making just 2 of 12 three-pointers. As a result, the Sixers’ 14-point lead at the 9-minute, 32-second mark of the second quarter turned into a 13-point deficit 25.9 seconds before intermission.