The Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Utah Jazz 127-124 to put an end to a four-game losing run led by Tyrese Maxey, who finished with a career-high 51 points.
The 23-year-old Tyrese Maxey, who was chosen as an NBA All-Star reserve earlier on Thursday, was a standout player for the 76ers in Salt Lake City despite Joel Embiid’s absence. Embiid’s meniscus injury was discovered via an MRI, so the current league MVP will lose additional time.
Due to Embiid’s initial injury on Tuesday night, it was determined that he would not travel to Salt Lake City with the 76ers. As a result, Maxey returned to the court and terminated the four-game losing streak.
With four three-pointers to open the game, Maxey led the team to an eighteen-point lead in the first quarter. He would go on to dominate the first half with 32 points, which is seven points more than his average of points per game this season
In a 127-124 victory over the Jazz, he scored 51 points on 17-of-27 shooting and 7-of-9 from long range. The victory fulfilled the team’s goals on the night when Maxey was selected as an All-Star.
“I think we needed this emotionally after the big fella and the couple games that we lost on this trip—the four games that we lost on this trip so we needed this dub,” Maxey said. “It was an emotional win for us and I’m glad we got it.“
“When it was my turn, I guess, to say my name, my phone was behind,” Maxey told the reporters when asked about his All-Star selection “So Joel just kept calling me. I kept trying to swipe up and decline his call so I could see what they said and my mom called me, my phone started glitching so I just answered my mom and answered Jo, and they just said congrats. So, it was great.” he added.
Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 16 points, while Tobias Harris scored 28 for the 76ers.
Utah was defeated for the third time in a row and has now dropped six of their last eight games. Lauri Markkanen scored 28 points in response to help the Jazz take a 120-117 lead in the final minutes.
In additional news, Austin Reaves led the Los Angeles Lakers to a 114-105 victory over the Boston Celtics with a season-high 32 points.
