Before the 2023–24 season started, Tyrese Maxey was questioned a lot by the Philadelphia 76ers. While James Harden looked for a trade, he had to step in as the team’s primary offensive initiator. For the Sixers, the 23-year-old Maxey has exceeded expectations in every way and has been a major contributor to their 7-1 start to the season.
Maxey has been huge for the Sixers all season but especially in the fourth quarter of their last two games, wins over the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons. His improvements as a lead guard — the way he hunts contact, makes smart and accurate passes to open teammates and does the little things — are awe-inspiring. They’re also without much historical precedent.
A stat from Mike Lynch of Sports Reference shows just how amazing Maxey has been at not only scoring AND playmaking but also taking care of the ball. No one has started their first eight games of a season with 200 points and 50 assists while committing fewer than 15 turnovers (at least since turnovers were first officially tracked starting in the 1977-78 season).
Of every player to amass 200 points and 50 assists through the first eight games of a season, DeMar DeRozan’s 17 turnovers used to be the fewest. Now it’s Maxey and his…eight turnovers. Among the other 80 instances of a player reaching 200-50-through-eight-games club, Maxey’s span is also just one of eight to include 20 triples and a 39-percent clip from deep.
Tyrese’s statistics are truly remarkable since he consistently finds the assist rather than relying on making a lot of risky passes. That’s fantastic. After the Sixers defeated the Pistons, head coach Nick Nurse said, “That’s the way to do it, man.”
Harden and P.J. Tucker have proven to be difficult additions to the Los Angeles Clippers starting lineup. Though Maxey acknowledged that Harden had a significant, beneficial influence on him, Philly is not at all sad to lose its former floor general.
