CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The day Tyrese Maxey was identified with a tendon pressure in the little finger on his proper hand, he requested the medical professionals treating him how he may get again to enjoying basketball sooner.
He obtained a splint to put on 24/7, with out exceptions, together with a further wrap that Maxey known as “extra credit.” In three weeks, “we’ll give you a chance,” Maxey was advised.
“Did exactly what they asked me to do,” he added.
That diligence is why, precisely three Saturdays after Maxey’s injury occurred, the 76ers’ All-Star guard may corral a protracted rebound in stride and sprint to the reverse finish of the Spectrum Center court docket. And then throw down a depraved, left-handed, game-tying dunk on the Hornets’ Miles Bridges. And then outwardly snigger when, after Maxey playfully held out his hand to shake at midcourt heading right into a timeout, Bridges rebuffed him.
It was the most ferocious second of a stunning return for Maxey, who totaled 26 factors, eight assists, and seven rebounds in a critical 118-114 late-season victory over the Hornets, with whom the Sixers are jockeying for postseason positioning. Maxey joined Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Kelly Oubre Jr. as key Sixers who’ve come again to recreation motion inside the final week, fueling Saturday’s victory in Charlotte and providing glimpses of this group’s potential if it could stay wholesome.
“When we’re in a bind and we need a quick basket or we need some tempo or some pace, he’s there,” George stated of Maxey. “ … His presence on the floor is undeniable.”
The Sixers victory — which required rallying from 15 factors down in the third quarter with a wonderful ultimate interval — got here in opposition to a Charlotte workforce that was considered one of the NBA’s hottest since the calendar flipped to 2026.
It additionally stored the Sixers (41-33) in seventh place in the jumbled Eastern Conference standings coming into Sunday, and moved them inside a half-game of the sixth-place Atlanta Hawks (42-33) and fifth-place Toronto Raptors (41-32). It additionally clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker for the Sixers over the Hornets (39-35), who dropped from eighth place to tenth with the loss. Another Sixers tiebreaker is on the line Monday once they go to the Miami Heat (39-35), who entered Sunday in ninth place.
Maxey’s terrific Saturday arrived one recreation after Embiid (indirect injury) and George (suspension) returned for Wednesday’s blowout of the Chicago Bulls, anchoring a 157-point outburst that was the Sixers’ highest single-game complete since 1970. On Friday, Oubre broke his personal information that he deliberate to return Saturday from an elbow sprain that had sidelined him for eight video games.
Yet getting Maxey again reignited the Sixers’ final instance of productiveness and sturdiness. He entered Sunday ranked fourth in the NBA in scoring (28.9 factors per recreation), whereas main the league in minutes per recreation (38.3). He is also averaging 6.7 assists, 4.2 rebounds, and 2 steals per recreation.
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Maxey’s return additionally arrived no less than a few days ahead of anticipated — no less than to outsiders.
On March 10, the Sixers launched an replace that Maxey could be reevaluated in roughly three weeks, or round March 31. The subsequent step after that’s sometimes resuming basketball actions — equivalent to practices, shootarounds, and full-contact scrimmaging — earlier than being cleared for recreation motion.
As lately as every week in the past, Maxey was nonetheless playfully taking pictures solely with his left hand earlier than his workforce’s win at the Utah Jazz. He shifted to utilizing his proper hand in current days, and was going by means of some particular person ballhanding and taking pictures work following Friday’s observe.
But Maxey stated Saturday that he had not participated in five-on-five scrimmaging earlier than enjoying in opposition to the Hornets. He additionally didn’t know till Saturday morning — when he handed ultimate exams and had discussions with medical workers, together with a videoconference with his hand specialist — that he could be cleared for that night time’s recreation.
“You know what, I’ve been working my tail off,” Maxey advised himself. “And I want to be there for my team, so I was there.”
Maxey’s first quarter — when his solely bucket was a speedy transition layup and he performed extra off the ball — was quiet by his requirements. Teammates had been “kind of on me,” he acknowledged, saying, “Dude, all right. We know you just got back, but come on. Let’s play.”
So he sank a tough turnaround jumper in the second interval, then buried three three-pointers earlier than the break. His environment friendly 10-of-18 mark from the flooring for the recreation was proof that this injury won’t impression Maxey’s taking pictures as dramatically as final season’s to the similar finger. While he nonetheless wore a much less clunky splint Saturday, not needing to connect his little finger to his wholesome ring finger with “buddy tape” is useful, he stated. So is the incontrovertible fact that he truly took time to relaxation the injury, moderately than making an attempt to instantly play by means of it like final season.
“This year, it’s still there, for sure,” Maxey stated of the injury. “But it’s way different.”
The Sixers received extra contributions Saturday from a veteran group, which flexed its poise and expertise in a charged setting in opposition to the upstart Hornets.
George was a defensive stalwart and scored eight of his 26 factors in the third quarter, together with what Maxey known as “run-stoppers” that helped the Sixers chip away at an 86-71 deficit. Embiid amassed 21 of his 29 factors earlier than the break, then sailed into the Sixers’ bench after swatting a large block on Brandon Miller’s potential game-tying three-point try with 7.4 seconds remaining. Rookie VJ Edgecombe continued his knack for pulling down essential second-half photographs, and veteran heart Andre Drummond helped curtail the Hornets’ barrage of offensive rebounds with an sudden fourth-quarter stint.
And Oubre — who additionally fast-tracked his return with no five-on-five scrimmaging earlier than enjoying Saturday — was a part of the closing lineup, together with elevating for his personal eye-popping fourth-quarter dunk by means of contact.
Fittingly, that slam was a results of a play that Maxey known as for Oubre. After that, Maxey gave the Sixers a 103-102 lead with a end excessive off the glass. When Maxey drew a foul in the ultimate minute, Embiid effusively clapped earlier than serving to his teammate off the flooring. After the recreation, coach Nick Nurse joked that he “eased” Maxey again in by enjoying him 43 minutes.
Three Saturdays after sustaining his injury, the All-Star level guard elevated the Sixers again to full power.
It led to considered one of their finest wins of the season.
And it supplied an additional glimpse of the Sixers’ potential — if they will keep wholesome.
“I kind of knew the moment,” Maxey stated. “And I think everybody did a really good job of responding.”
