‘If not the fastest': How Maxey's speed drove Sixers when shots didn't fall originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Joel Embiid had something to tell Tyrese Maxey after the Sixers walked off the Madison Square Garden floor victorious Tuesday night.
“I told Tyrese after the game, I was like, ‘We’ve been going against these guys for the last couple of years, and tonight felt a lot different than in the past,’” Embiid said.
In one important way, it was.
The Sixers scored 24 fast-break points, their most against the Knicks since Feb. 4, 2011, when they scored 26. Only that 2011 total was higher across the 63 Sixers-Knicks meetings covered by Sportradar’s game logs dating to the start of the 2010-11 season.
Maxey accounted for half of the 24.
That production carried the Sixers through a difficult shooting night in their 106-100 season-opening win. Philadelphia shot 41.6 percent from the field and went 11 for 40 from three-point range. Embiid went 5 for 15. LeBron James went 5 for 13. Jaylen Brown missed 11 of his 18 shots.
The Sixers made up for it by forcing 14 turnovers and converting them into 22 points. Maxey scored nine of those points and finished with 12 on the fast break. He led Philadelphia with 28 points in a team-high 39 minutes and 34 seconds.
“He doesn’t seem like he gets tired,” James said.
Brown wants Maxey applying that pressure throughout those minutes.
“I want him to continue to do that for the whole game if he can,” Brown said.
“They’ve all been on me about being aggressive,” Maxey said. “Every last one of them.”
The Sixers spent the offseason talking about playing faster. Maxey was always going to be central to that plan. It took less than a minute for him to show why.
With 11:04 remaining in the first quarter, Maxey stole a Karl-Anthony Towns pass. Three seconds later, he pulled up from 26 feet and gave the Sixers a 6-0 lead.
The play showed why Maxey can be so damaging before a defense gets set. Rather than drive toward a retreating defender, he stopped behind the three-point line and took the open shot New York’s turnover created.
“Speed. Speed,” Brown said when asked what stood out about playing alongside Maxey. “His ability to just take off and put a defense in a tough spot, the pressure he puts on.”
Maxey’s impact in transition went beyond his 12 points.
With 7:15 remaining in the third quarter, he collected a Jalen Brunson miss and found James for a layup four seconds later. Early in the fourth, Embiid blocked an Andre Drummond dunk attempt and James grabbed the rebound. Five seconds after Embiid’s block, Maxey was finishing through contact at the other end.
The three-point play stretched Philadelphia’s lead to nine.
The Sixers’ best transition possessions did not all start with steals. Some began with rim protection or a defensive rebound, which made their second-half improvement on defense important to how they generated offense.
“If we can find spaces for him to get out and run, he’s going to create offense for everybody when he does that,” Brown said. “So just continue to use his speed, continue to use his skill to get downhill, and that’s going to be great for us.”
The Knicks felt every bit of that pressure.
“All throughout the game, it looked like we were running in mud,” Knicks head coach Mike Brown said, according to the New York Post.
The Sixers scored seven fast-break points in the first half, then added 17 in the second.
“That’s where the game was won and lost, especially in the third quarter when our starters were out there,” Brown said.
The Sixers outscored New York 29-18 in the third, turning a four-point halftime deficit into a seven-point advantage. Their half-court offense remained uneven, but their defense kept creating chances to score before the Knicks could organize.
“Defense kept us afloat,” Embiid said. “We couldn’t make shots.”
Maxey has steadily become more productive in those situations.
Excluding his rookie season, when he made eight starts, his fast-break scoring average has increased every year. It rose from 3.3 points per game in 2021-22 to 3.9, 4.0, 4.7 and then 5.5 last season.
Maxey led the NBA with 382 total fast-break points in 2025-26 and tied for second in per-game production. The only player ahead of him was James at 5.7.
Now they are teammates.
Playing beside James, Brown and Embiid could reduce the number of possessions Maxey needs to create from a standstill. It could also produce more of the opportunities that suit him best.
James can grab a rebound and throw an outlet pass. Brown and VJ Edgecombe can force turnovers or fill a lane. Embiid can protect the rim and begin a possession before Maxey races in the opposite direction.
Tuesday was Maxey’s 23rd regular-season game with at least 10 fast-break points. Before the opener, he had averaged 3.9 fast-break points across 18 regular-season meetings with New York. His previous high against the Knicks was nine, a mark he had reached three times before scoring 12 Tuesday.
Philadelphia reached 24 fast-break points only nine times during the entire 2025-26 regular season. In those games, the Sixers averaged 21.9 points off turnovers. They landed almost exactly on that combination Tuesday.
Maxey’s final basket provided the clearest example.
With New York within four points, Maxey intercepted OG Anunoby’s pass and immediately accelerated in the opposite direction. Three seconds after the steal, he dunked and forced the Knicks to call timeout.
“Tyrese was keeping us afloat offensively while me, I didn’t have it going and some of the other guys,” Embiid said. “And then defensively, he’s taken a step being better.”
The Sixers still have considerable work ahead. Their spacing, timing and lineup combinations remain unfinished. Brown said the group is “not even at the tip of the iceberg” when it comes to building chemistry.
But their first game showed how they can survive when their shots are not falling. Their defense can create openings, and Maxey can turn those openings into points before the opposition gets settled.
James has played with hundreds of teammates over 24 seasons. When asked for a player whose speed resembled Maxey’s, he named Dennis Schröder, his teammate during two separate stints with the Lakers.
Otherwise, James struggled to find an equal.
“He’s one of the fastest guys in the league, if not the fastest, with or without the ball,” James said. “That’s just going to be key for our team, to continue to put pressure on the defense. Obviously, he consistently can do that.”
