Philadelphia 76ers point guard Tyrese Maxey is reaping the benefits of James Harden’s absence.
Maxey has emerged as one of the league’s most promising young talents, and he will look to keep up his high level of play on Saturday afternoon when Philadelphia faces the visiting Phoenix Suns.
With Harden holding out for a trade, Maxey stepped into a starting role, excelling right out of the gate. He averaged 30.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists in his first three games of the season, earning NBA Player of the Week honors in the Eastern Conference.
Harden was then dealt to the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday, and Maxey responded with 18 points, four assists and a pair of steals in Friday’s 114-99 win over the Toronto Raptors.
One of the driving forces behind Maxey’s hot start? None other than Harden himself.
Now that Maxey is in line to be Philadelphia’s primary floor general, president of basketball operations Daryl Morey loves the spot his team is in.
As the 76ers start to embrace their new look, Phoenix anxiously is awaiting the chance to do the same.
Star guard Bradley Beal has yet to make his Suns debut due to back spasms, and he’ll likely be unavailable for Saturday’s game as Phoenix moves with caution to get him out on the floor. Beal was acquired from the Washington Wizards via trade this past offseason.
Beal being sidelined has put more pressure on Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. Booker, however, has already missed three of the Suns’ first five games due to an ankle sprain.
Booker looked fine on Friday, though, supplying 31 points, nine rebounds and 13 assists, but Phoenix still fell 132-121 to the Spurs — the Suns’ second loss to San Antonio in three days.
Even though Phoenix hasn’t gotten off to the start it had hoped for at 2-3, Booker isn’t overly concerned.
Booker is eager to get out to Philadelphia, although he isn’t too thrilled about the 1 p.m. ET start time. The Suns and Sixers split the two-game season series in 2022-23, with each team winning at home.
