76ers Vs Timberwolves: Maxey's 39 Powers 135-108 Road Win
The Philadelphia 76ers handed the Minnesota Timberwolves a 135-108 loss in a game that mattered more than the box score — the matchup, billed as 76ers vs timberwolves, snapped Philadelphia’s skid and came with Joel Embiid sidelined for the fifth straight game.
Maxey takeover on the second night of a back-to-back
Tyrese Maxey finished with 39 points on 16-for-28 shooting, 4-for-7 from deep, and eight assists as the Sixers rallied for the 135-108 victory at Target Center, a game played on the second night of a back-to-back for Philadelphia. With Joel Embiid out for his fifth straight game for right knee injury management and right shin soreness, Maxey’s night became the decisive factor.
76ers Vs Timberwolves: Maxey outduels Anthony Edwards
Maxey’s scoring outpaced Anthony Edwards, who posted 28 points, nine rebounds and three assists but also committed seven turnovers. Minnesota was outscored by 22 points in the 11 minutes Edwards spent on the bench before garbage time, a span that helped widen the margin as Maxey attacked persistently.
Nurse’s high screens created creases for Maxey
Coach Nick Nurse credited a deliberate adjustment to free Maxey. Nurse said the team set higher screens near half court with Andre Drummond, Dominick Barlow and Adem Bona to give Maxey more space to take off and get into the paint. "I thought we were screening really high out on the floor, which gave him a lot more space to play in, and he kept finding creases to get really good shots up tonight, " Nurse said.
Rookie Beringer’s foul trouble forced rotation changes
Minnesota was already without Rudy Gobert, who was suspended for accruing too many flagrant fouls, and Naz Reid, who was out with shoulder soreness. The Wolves started Joan Beringer for his first career start, but he picked up two quick fouls four minutes into the game and was benched for the remainder of the quarter. In the second quarter, after just a single minute on the court, he picked up his third foul and sat the rest of the half, and that foul trouble disrupted Minnesota’s limited front-court depth for the remainder of the contest.
Mix-and-match lineups didn’t stem the tide
Minnesota tried mixing rotations by inserting Mike Conley, Jaylen Clark and Terrence Shannor Jr., players who had been out of the rotation in the last game, but none of those combinations stuck. The Wolves suffered most on defense: they gave up 17 second-chance points and struggled with closeouts all night, a problem coach Chris Finch called out. "Just a lot of short close outs, " Finch said. "We probably short-closed them out at least a half a dozen times, if not more, in the first half alone. "
Player reactions and key stat lines
Edwards characterized his turnovers as a reaction to coverage: "Just unexpected coverages. Sometimes they would be in a drop, sometimes they would be in a high wall, and then when I go to pass it, they might hit the ball out of my hand. I lost the ball a couple times on the dribble. Just bad turnovers. " He also took responsibility for defensive lapses: "Most of them was me. A couple of them, they were three, four steps behind the line. I’m not thinking they even gonna shoot it. And they still shot it and they made it. That’s on me. I’ll take it. "
Julius Randle finished with 18 points, three rebounds and three assists; Finch said Randle was "under the weather pretty severely, " even though Randle did not appear on the team’s injury report leading up to the game. Tyrese Maxey was called "superb" for the full game, his 39 points and eight assists matching the box score impact that outdueled Edwards and carried Philadelphia.
Without Gobert and Reid, Minnesota suffered its largest loss of the season, a 27-point defeat that underscored the strain on the roster. While the Wolves desperately missed Gobert and Reid in this game, it’s hard to use that as a reason — unclear in the provided context.
Philadelphia will finish its three-game road trip on Tuesday when it visits the Indiana Pacers, the next scheduled game on the Sixers’ docket.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers' Nick Nurse reacts to big Tyrese Maxey night in win over Wolves
