PHILADELPHIA -- In order for the Philadelphia 76ers to have any shot in this series against the Boston Celtics, they need Tyrese Maxey to be at his absolute best. He needs to take a lot of shots and be a big part of this offense, even with Joel Embiid back on the floor.
That was not the case in Sunday's 128-96 Game 4 loss to the Celtics that put the Sixers on the brink of elimination. Maxey took only three shots in the first half as Boston built an 18-point halftime lead and finished with only 14 for the game. He took 20 shots in Game 1, 28 shots in Game 2, and 31 shots in Game 3.
"That can't happen," Maxey said after the loss. "That's on me. That absolutely can't happen. That's just unacceptable by me, but I was playing within the flow of the game, and it kind of happened that way. It wasn't meant to happen that way, but that's on me. That's absolutely unacceptable. We can't win basketball games with that happening, and I take full responsibility on that one."
Of course, Maxey was trying to get Embiid going. The two of them worked their two-man game on the offensive end in an effort to get the Sixers rolling and into a rhythm, but it came at the expense of Maxey's shot attempts drastically dropping. His teammates, including Embiid and Paul George, let him know about it at halftime.
"It wasn't intentional," Maxey added. "It was kind of just the flow of the game, and how the game was kind of going. Even Jo was just telling him, like, 'Dude you gotta force your way into the game.' PG was at halftime, just, you know, PG doesn't really get too fired up, and he’s just, like, ‘Dude, you took three shots. It’s impossible. That's just not a winning pedigree for us', and, you know, again, like I said, I take responsibility, and it won't happen again."
Embiid, who is still the fulcrum of everything the Sixers want to do at this stage of the game, wants Maxey to put his head down and make things happen. That is how he and the team can be successful in an effort to rally and win this series.
"It’s not difficult," Embiid stated. "You gotta want it. I think you just gotta be aggressive, but aggressive is not about taking shots. It's about just being aggressive, putting your head down, driving to the basket. That might collapse the defense, and you make plays for everybody else. So, I think the whole notion of getting shots and not about getting shots, it's just about being aggressive. Putting pressure on the defense and react off of it."
Embiid continues to have conversations with his younger star teammate in an effort to make sure he is ready to go when the time calls for it. Of course, things change with him out on the floor compared to when he's off of it, but Philadelphia needs Maxey to stay involved.
"I talk to him," Embiid stated. "There's a couple of times where he had opportunities to shoot the ball, but he's got to take them. You gotta want it, but I think for the most part, he's been good. I think he came in to start the second half, and it was being aggressive and we need that from the start, and that might not mean getting up 10 shots in the first quarter. That might mean creating advantages for everybody else."
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: 76ers' Tyrese Maxey addresses lack of shot attempts in loss to Celtics