Tyrese Maxey had an unforgettable night Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks. In the Sixers’ 123-114 overtime win, he scored a career-high 54 points on 18-of-30 shooting (including 6-of-15 from deep) and
chipped in nine assists, five rebounds, three steals and three blocks as well.
In doing so, he joined some historic company.
According to the fine folks at Stathead, Maxey joined Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Dirk Nowitzki, Anthony Davis, Luka Dončić and Fred VanVleet (?!) as the only players since blocks began being tracked in 1973-74 to top at least 50 points, three steals and three blocks in a single game. Maxey and Dončić are the only two players ever to have at least 50 points, nine assists, three steals and three blocks in one game.
Maxey carved out a unique place in Sixers lore as well.
As a reminder: Allen Iverson also played for the Sixers. Iverson topped 50 points in 14 games between the regular season and the playoffs, but he never had more than eight assists in any of those games.
Speaking of Iverson… Maxey also joined him on the short list of the hottest starts to a season in NBA history.
This was Maxey’s fourth 50-point game since the start of the 2023-24 season, putting him behind only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Devin Booker, Jalen Brunson, Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokić are the only other players with three 50-pieces over that span.
And kudos to ESPN’s Bobby Marks for the most “LeBron stat” (h/t New Heights) of the night.
The best part? This all happened against Doc Rivers, which Maxey gleefully noted after the game.
“It means a lot because I got a career high against Spencer [Rivers] and Doc,” Maxey said in his postgame interview. “Spencer will never hear the end of that one.”
After playing 47 minutes in the second night of a back-to-back, Maxey now gets two days of well-deserved rest before Sunday’s game against the Miami Heat. (Remember when Maxey vs. Tyler Herro debates were a thing?)
Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Salary Swish and salary-cap information via RealGM.
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