Why Tyrese Maxey hated how he played in the first half of Game 4 against the Celtics originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

In the 2025-26 season, Tyrese Maxey has been awesome for the Philadelphia 76ers. Due to Joel Embiid's constant injury issues, Maxey took over as the franchise's main man. He made that look easy because he was not only playing well, but he was also serving as a solid leader.

In the past, Maxey was one of the youngsters, but now, they have a much better cornerstone. With that increased role comes bigger responsibilities. He needs to be a bigger star, and that was one of his regrets during Game 4 against the Boston Celtics.

In Game 4, the 76ers lost 128-96 in an embarrassing result. As the star player for Philly, Maxey's only scoring 22 points was disappointing. Considering he only shot three attempts in the first half, it showed that he was playing a more passive role.

Joel Embiid was back, so him getting more touches and shots was expected. However, that should not have taken away from Maxey, who is the 76ers' primary perimeter scorer. He only shot 14 attempts in the game en route to a 22-point game.

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Taking 14 shots is not a good look for a star player. Maxey was quite efficient, too, so him electing not to be aggressive was the onus on the 76ers in Game 4. They could have kept up and proved they can hang with the Celtics, but that was not the case, as Boston ran away with the game.

"That absolutely can't happen. That's just unacceptable by me. It wasn't meant to happen that way. We can't win basketball games with that happening, and I take full responsibility on that one," Maxey said about how he was passive during the first half of Game 4.

As the 76ers try to come back and win this series, they will want Maxey and Embiid to play at their best. They are now back, so as long as the 76ers can get the most out of their players, they could pull off a surprise and get another upset win against the Celtics.

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