Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey discusses difference between starting compared to reserve role

MILWAUKEE–Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey has had some different roles thus far in the 2022-23 season. He began the season as the starter and he had to be the No. 3 scorer, he got hurt in November, and when he came back in late December, the Sixers moved him to the bench shortly after on Jan. 15.

To begin this current five-game road trip, Maxey started in the win over the Miami Heat. At the moment, that could have been due to the injury to Joel Embiid. However, over the previous two games, Embiid has been on the floor and Maxey has been in the starting lineup.

In Saturday’s miraculous win over the Milwaukee Bucks, Maxey had 26 points on 8-for-12 shooting and he was 5-for-8 from deep. Afterward, he discussed the difference between starting and coming off the bench in games.

“I think the biggest difference is I can find rhythm,” said Maxey. “Maybe get a shot to go in early. A pass from Jo (Embiid) or James (Harden) and then when I stay out of the second group and I’m by myself, I feel more comfortable so I’ve had the ball I’ve already got a shot in, but you gotta be adaptable. You gotta be ever-changing environment. Off the bench or starting, it don’t really matter.”

On the season now, Maxey is averaging 23.1 points and has a true shooting percentage of 58.5% as a starter compared to 15.9 points and 56.3% as a reserve. His 3-point percentage is 41% as a starter and 37% as a reserve.

“The only difference to me, obviously, is when you play with James, it helps him,” said coach Doc Rivers. “It’s when you don’t start him, it’s very tough to get him high minutes. That’s what we were struggling with. That doesn’t mean going to start him every night, but it is tough.”

By it being tough, Rivers refers to Maxey’s minutes. They want him to play a ton of minutes next to Harden and Embiid and be able to give him an opportunity to produce even while coming off the bench.

“You give away those first six minutes and now we want him to be a 34-minute player whether he’s off the bench or not,” Rivers added. “When he comes off the bench, that’s hard to get and that’s when we start thinking.”

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Time will tell what the Sixers will do with Maxey whether he starts or comes off the bench, but it is obvious that he needs to be involved in some way. He is very important to what they plan to do on the offensive end.