Before the playoffs began, the outside world thought that the Philadelphia 76ers would face a bitter battle. After all, from the paper lineup and configuration, the Toronto Raptors on the opposite side have some restraint on the Philadelphia 76ers, and James Harden seems to be fully studied. Now it seems that this is half right, whether it is his own reservations, or the Raptors' targeted deployment works, James Harden is indeed average. But the Philadelphia 76ers won two consecutive games at home, with a bright future.
In the second game of the series against the Raptors, the 76ers were still one point behind in the first quarter, but after that they quickly found the feeling and began to exert their strength, and the 76ers played a 35-19 attack wave in the second quarter, turning the situation around in one fell swoop. In the third quarter, the 76ers beat the Raptors by 9 points, and the game lost the suspense of victory and defeat. Even though the Raptors chased back some point differences in the final quarter, the Philadelphia 76ers won again, and the series was already 2-0. The 76ers starting point guard Teres Maxi is in a heroic state, shooting 8-of-11 from the field, including three three-pointers, scoring a quasi-triple-double of 23 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists, and a plus-minus of +22 is second only to Tobias Harris, ranking second on the team. To know the first game of the series, Teres Maxi was active, he exploded 38 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists, the series of two games, do not know that Teres Maxi is the second leader of the 76ers, after all, he can average 31 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists per game, and Teres Maxi shooting rate is as high as 68.8%, three-point shooting rate is also 57.1%, although the next will definitely slip, but this efficiency is indeed terrible.
In fact, Teres Maxi did not start high, due to too much excitement during the trial, the performance was obviously abnormal, Teres Maxi fell out of the lottery area in the draft, until the first round of 21 picks was selected by the 76ers. And last season, Terrese Maxi was also an uncompromising substitute player, he could only average 8 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2 assists per game, and the outside world naturally did not expect much from him.
Until last season's Stopping in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, ben Simmons' disappointing performance and the complete breakdown of the relationship between the two sides confirmed that ben Simmons would not play for the 76ers in the new season. Originally, after this news was released, both for the 76ers and their fans, it was a thunderbolt, after all, even if Ben Simmons did not cash in on all his talents after entering the league and became the proud son of heaven expected by the outside world, Ben Simmons' organizational passing, all-around defense, including the offensive destructive power under the basket, are quite trustworthy. The appearance of this change caught the 76ers a little off guard, and they immediately announced that Teres Maxi would become the team's starting point guard in the new season, which was also thought to be a helpless move, after all, the 76ers had no salary space and chips to pursue big stars, so they had to let Terrese Maxi catch the ducks on the shelves.
But it turns out that whether the 76ers management is strategizing or Teres Maxi himself, the growth rate of the new star in the backcourt is really surprising. Teres Maxi was one of the 76ers' best performers during the regular season, averaging 17.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 0.8 steals per game. And in addition to the stats, Terrese Maxi's outside shooting ability has improved a lot, and his three-point shooting rate has reached 42.7% this season, an increase of nearly 13 percentage points. Not to mention that as a backcourt player, Teres Maxi's shooting rate has reached nearly 50%, which shows that the 21-year-old has a strong ability to seize opportunities.
Especially in the final moments of the deadline, the Philadelphia 76ers got James Harden from the Brooklyn Nets, not only the paper strength and attention have reached a higher level, but also the effective complementarity between Teres Maxi and James Harden. Because although the position on the field is the number one position, Teres Maxi is not known for organizing passing, his advantage is still sharp scoring ability, and can show a very aggressive defense. James Harden is the opposite, although the position on the court is a shooting guard, but James Harden's organizational passing and big picture ability is at the top level in the league, James Harden is calm and sophisticated, and Teres Maxi has the energy and passion common among young people.
Fans familiar with James Harden know that he partnered with Patrick Beverley early in his career, who, although his personal ability is not good, is the backcourt player who works with James Harden the most tacitly. After all, Beverly doesn't have the ball, and only needs to shoot empty three-pointers on the offensive end, but defensively he can greatly reduce the pressure on James Harden. And today's Terresey Maxi, a bit like the young and top version of Beverly, in addition to being able to do a good job as a deputy, even if James Harden is strictly guarded or in poor condition, Terresey Maxi can also undertake the task of holding the ball to attack, he seems to be the perfect partner tailored for Harden.