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Tyrese Maxey has struggled against Boston. He expects to play better when they meet in the second round.

Maxey averaged 10.0 points on 35.4% shooting — including 21.4% on threes — in the four meetings against the Celtics.

Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey passes the basketball against the Brooklyn Nets during Game 4 of the first round Eastern Conference playoffs on Saturday, April 22, 2023 in New York.
Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey passes the basketball against the Brooklyn Nets during Game 4 of the first round Eastern Conference playoffs on Saturday, April 22, 2023 in New York.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

The 76ers will face the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals. And in order to defeat Boston, the Sixers will need solid performances from Tyrese Maxey.

The problem is, the third-year combination guard has struggled mightily against the Celtics.

Maxey said Wednesday that he’s watched film of this season’s performances versus Boston to see areas he can improve.

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“The two games in the middle of the season that was kind of mental stuff,” he said following practice. “That last game, I think I hurt my back messing with [P.J. Tucker] getting a rebound.

“But I mean, the ultimate goal, it’s not about me. It’s about winning. So it’s like what can we do to stop either Atlanta or Boston as many times as we can, so at the end of the game when there’s zeroes across the board have more points than they do.”

The Celtics won their series against the Hawks on Thursday night at State Farm Arena. The conference semifinals are set to begin on Monday.

Maxey had 21 points on 8-for-16 shooting — including going 2 of 5 on three-pointers — in the season-opening loss at Boston on Oct. 18. He followed that with six points on 3-for-14 shooting against the Celtics on Feb. 8. Then Maxey had eight points on 4-for-10 shooting versus them on Feb. 25. And on April 4, he was held on five points on 2-for-8 shooting while committing four turnovers against Boston.

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He averaged 10.0 points on 35.4% shooting — including 21.4% on threes — in the four meetings against the Celtics. In 10 career games against them, Maxey averaged 8.2 points on 34.0% shooting, which are both are career lows against an opponent.

Meanwhile, he’s averaging 13.9 points on 48.4% shooting in eight career games against the Hawks.

“We’ve been watching film both ways,” Maxey said. “We’re just waiting.”