Tyrese Maxey’s Shooting Slump Takes Honest Take From Sixers Teammate Tobias Harris | Media Pyro

PHILADELPHIA — With James Harden out with a leg injury, the Philadelphia 76ers offense seems predictably lacking some juice. His playmaking and shot creation have been sorely missed by his Sixers teammates, especially down the stretch of close games. Tyreese Maxey, in particular, has struggled without him.

In the two games without Harden so far, Maxey has shot 10-29 and 4-18 from the field in their respective games. Joel Embiid’s reactivation in the win over the Phoenix Suns didn’t help him recover from his shooting slump. He’s the player who needs to step up the most when Harden is fired, as he has the ability to be a top scorer at any time.

Still, Tobias Harris isn’t worried. He explained that the young Sixers guard’s process is still fine and it will take some time to find a groove without Harden.

“Yeah, I think, everybody kind of adjusts,” Harris explained after the Sixers’ 100-88 win over the Suns. “When you have a guy like James injured, it creates more opportunities for other guys. Now most of the basketball game is in the hands of Tyers, a point guard instead of what you know as a two position. So just adjust and recover. I think it’s a small thing, but it’s part of the game. Philly forward Maxey pointed to the increased usage he’s seeing, which also happens on short notice.

“I think the looks he’s getting are the shots we know he can make,” Harris continued. “Sometimes, he gets in the paint and has a lot of contact. So, over time, I think he’s going to start getting more of those calls and that’s going to shake up some of the shooting percentage. But overall, three-on-one, the shot looks good, he’s getting good looks, he’s still shooting it at a high clip of the year so far, so he’ll be fine. It’s just a bit of an adaptation, I suppose.

Maxey is no merchant of Harden’s playmaking. He looked like a solid scorer last season before The Beard went down with the Sixers and has been outstanding so far this year. his Ability to shoot He’s not going anywhere, and as Harris noted, and as Doc Rivers made clear recently, the more bad calls he gets, the more dangerous his ability to get in the paint becomes. It will take some time, but Maxey should be able to figure out how to thrive without Harden for the time being.