How crazy was Tyrese Maxey’s performance in Game 5?

How crazy was Tyrese Maxey’s performance in Game 5? originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia

To say that last night’s Game 5 between the Sixers and Knicks was unbelievable is an understatement. It took an all-time performance from Tyrese Maxey to steer his team away from certain doom and single-handedly extend the season. With that in mind, we took a look at how impressive the game was.

Before we even get to Maxey, this is crazy: we saw each team blow a lead of five points or more with less than 30 seconds left and lose the game. How rare is this? In the last 25 postseasons this has happened only three times. And now twice in nine days. Crazy.

Maxey’s 46 points tied the Sixers’ franchise record for most points scored in an elimination game. The only other player to do this was – who else? – Wilt Chamberlain, who dropped 46 points in a loss to the Celtics in the 1966 Eastern Division finals at Convention Hall in Philadelphia. Chamberlain added 34 rebounds and shot 8 of 25 from the line.

Maxey is the third player to score 46 points or more in a postseason game at Madison Square Garden. Boston’s Sam Jones scored 51 against the Knicks in the 1967 Eastern Division semifinals and Michael Jordan dropped 46 at the Garden in the 1996 Eastern Conference semifinals. Strangely, it was the only game the Bulls lost in that series.

Thanks to the Big 5’s legendary stats man BoopStats for this one: only two Sixers have scored more points at MSG in their history. Allen Iverson scored 47 in a regular-season game against the Knicks in 2006, and Wilt Chamberlain scored 53 in 1966 as the Sixers beat the Lakers. The Lakers? Yes, back then, some NBA teams scheduled doubleheaders in their arenas to attract more fans. That day, the Knicks played the Pistons, followed by the Sixers and Lakers.

Only nine players ever were younger than Maxey – 23 years, 178 days – when they scored 46 or more in a playoff game. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jordan, Rick Barry, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Trae Young, Ja Morant and Jayson Tatum.

Their postseason is just five games long, but Maxey and Joel Embiid are just the third pair of teammates to each score 45 points or more in the same postseason. The other duos were Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant with the 2019 Warriors, and Charles Barkley and Kevin Johnson with the 1995 Phoenix Suns.

We leave you with a non-Maxey statistic: Embiid struggled but had a triple double in last night’s game: 19 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. He’s the first Sixers player to have a triple-double in the playoffs since our old friend Ben Simmons (10/19/11) in 2021 against the Wizards.