Sixers-Lakers takeaways: Tyrese Maxey’s aggressive start, Marcus Morris Sr.’s big shooting night, Paul Reed’s “starving for more”

Tyrese Maxey is finally heeding the instructions of 76ers coach Nick Nurse.

Marcus Morris is showing that he can be a solid piece off the Sixers bench. And Paul Reed is an unfazed and hungry player.

Those three things stood out in Monday’s 138-94 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers at the Wells Fargo Center.

Maxey came into the game averaging just 3.4 points and 3.3 shot attempts in the first quarter of games.

But…

“He had mentioned that he was going to come out and be way more aggressive at the start tonight,” Nurse said. “He did. He just said, ‘Man, I got to get into the game sooner.’ That was kind of his comment. He obviously did that, right?”

Maxey scored 10 of his 31 points in the opening quarter on 4-of-6 shooting – including making 2-of-4 three-pointers.

“When he tells me I’m going to be more aggressive tonight, I’m like, ‘Oh [shoot], I only tell you that every day. … You tell me once, you got a few to catch up. But it’s good.”

The North Philly native took exception to my mentioning the Sixers needed to get more out of him after last Tuesday’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. At that time, Morris had scored a total of eight points on 3-for-10 shooting – including making 1-of-5 three-pointers in seven games.

After that mention, Morris has been on a tear.

He finished with 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting – including making 4-of-5 three-pointers in 19 minutes, 32 seconds off the bench. Morris also scored 16 points while making 3-of-5 three-pointers in 16:14 in a loss to the Timberwolves on Wednesday.

» READ MORE: Paul Reed’s key to defending Anthony Davis? Avoid fouling the ‘big flopper’

“It was good, man,” Morris said of Monday’s comfort level. “I’ve always been a starter. So it was definitely difficult trying to figure out where I fit and games like this, it was good for me. It’s going to be other guys that come up and step up and this is the good thing about having a deep team for me personally.

“As soon as I get comfortable, and as soon as they establish a role for me, I think the sky is the limit for myself.”

A lot was made about Reed calling Lakers center Anthony Davis “a big flopper” at Monday morning’s shootaround.

But the Sixers reserve center didn’t back away from his comments. The matchup fans wanted to see between him and Davis never materialized because they only spent a short amount of time on the floor together.

» READ MORE: Kelly Oubre goes through shootaround, could join Sixers for two-game road trip

But Reed had a solid outing with nine points on 4-for-5 shooting — including making his lone three-pointer attempt — along with three rebounds and two steals. His most impressive statistic was being a plus-33 in 17:10.

Davis finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds, but was a minus-13 in 32:17.

“I’m playing for something different right now,” Reed said of being unfazed by a possible encounter with Davis. “I like where I am. I’m not getting complacent, though. I’m still starving for more, and I’m trying to be better every game.

“I’m trying to take steps in the right direction. I’m still proving myself every day.”

He wants to be in the starting lineup one day. He also wants to win a championship. So Reed doesn’t have time to focus on how someone will react to his comment.