Doc Rivers’ biggest challenge this postseason is making sure Tyrese Maxey is the Sixers’ difference-maker

There isn’t much that the Sixers can accomplish in the first round of the playoffs. They’ve been there and done that so many times that it’s a wonder anyone even bothers to tune in. The majority of the questions that they’ve faced this week have focused on the things they need to do after beating the Brooklyn Nets. Remember last year, when everybody attempted to work themselves up into a lather about playing the Toronto Raptors? Sometimes you have to role play a little bit when things get stale.

Stay healthy and end it quick. That’s the bulk of the list. Doesn’t make for very good drama, does it? Health isn’t a storyline until the moment it is. Two years ago, the top-seeded Sixers looked like world beaters in their first three playoff games, outscoring the Wizards by 61 points. Then, Joel Embiid went up for a shot against Robin Lopez and came down awkwardly on his knee. Did it really matter that he had just scored 36 points in 28 minutes a couple of nights earlier?

Same goes for last year. Embiid’s game-winner at the buzzer of Game 3 in Toronto seemed to portend great things. Instead, the legacy of that night was the thumb ligament he tore. Welcome to the moment. We regret to inform you that it’s over.

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We’ve been through four of these things, five if you count the pandemic bubble, which you shouldn’t, because the Sixers actually lost in the first round of that one. We know enough to know that we won’t know anything after Saturday’s playoff opener at the Wells Fargo Center. The Nets of 2023 are a lot like the Nets of 2019, who beat the Sixers in Game 1 of the first round before losing four straight. They are a fun young team with some interesting players. Former Villanova star Mikal Bridges is averaging 26.1 points for them since arriving from Phoenix in the Kevin Durant trade. But they also have no answer for Embiid, which makes them your typical first-round playoff opponent. That is, one that does not have a chance.

It’s all about the Boston Celtics, right? It’s hard to dwell on Round 1 because of who looms in Round 2. The only way the Nets tell us anything is if they tell us something about the Sixers’ chances of beating Boston. Which is why, to me, this series against the Nets is all about Tyrese Maxey.

He is the most important wild card of this postseason, the biggest reason to think that the Sixers might just have the edge in talent against a 57-win Boston team. He’s also scored a grand total of 19 points in his last three games against the Celtics.

“We’ve got to keep him involved,” Doc Rivers said on Thursday afternoon. “I’ve got to do a better job when he’s not involved to force it sometimes, because I think he’s really important to our team, and when he’s making shots and scoring, it’s hard to beat us. That I know.”

Rivers wasn’t talking specifically about the Nets, or the Celtics, but about Maxey’s playoff performance in general. The Sixers know how big of a difference-maker he can be. They saw it last postseason, when he scored 38 points in a Game 1 win over the Raptors and averaged 26.7 points as the Sixers built a 3-0 lead. But they also saw how fast he can disappear. In the Sixers’ two losses in that series, he scored a total of 23.

The Sixers are going to need the first version of Maxey in order to have a chance against the Celtics. Right now, they need to do everything in their power to make sure he hits the ground running. In his last three games against the Celtics during the regular season he scored five, eight, and six points while shooting a combined 9-for-32 from the field.

Part of Maxey’s struggles is due to the Celtics’ physical style. They are the kind of team that puts plenty of players on their heels. But an equally big part of the problem is attributable to a well-meaning 22-year-old kid sharing a court with James Harden and Joel Embiid.

“We want him to be aggressive,” Rivers said. “That’s always a two-step. Trying to keep him aggressive playing with Joel and playing with James and staying aggressive. That’s a dance. I will say that. There’s nights honestly where we’ve done that very well, and there’s nights where even though we won, my staff knows I’m not very happy with how we won.”

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Rivers would be wise to remember those words throughout this series against the Nets. That can be a hard thing to do. A coach’s first priority is winning, doubly so in the playoffs. The path of least resistance will be to roll the ball out there and let Embiid and Harden do what they do.

But Rivers is a coach who will be ultimately be judged on what the Sixers do beyond this round. Which means it’s in his own interest to have them win in a way that makes him happy. He knows how big of an X-factor Maxey can be against an opponent that is focused on Embiid and Harden. The Sixers are 5-1 in the playoffs when Maxey makes at least two three-pointers. They are 6-2 when he attempts at least five. They are 4-1 in his five highest scoring games and 7-3 when he scores more than 15 points.

You see it. I see it. And you know darn well the head coach sees it. Rivers’ big challenge this postseason will be getting the Sixers to play the same sort of frictionless team basketball as the top two seeds in the conference. He can use this Nets series to make that happen. If he wants Maxey to force the issue, Rivers might need to do it also.