Sixers' Tyrese Maxey talks taking over late in Game 2 win over Celtics

BOSTON -- When one looks back at the 111-97 Game 2 win over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, the focus is going to be on rookie VJ Edgecombe after he made history. The young guard put up 30 points and 10 rebounds to help the Sixers win on the road, and deserves all of the praise, but star guard Tyrese Maxey was a big factor as well.

Maxey finished with 29 points and nine assists on Tuesday, including an absolute heater down the stretch to really put the Celtics away. After Boston had cut a 13-point deficit down to just two on buckets by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, Maxey drilled two big 3s to put Philadelphia back up eight and silence the TD Garden faithful.

Maxey then found Kelly Oubre Jr. for a corner 3, then drove inside for an acrobatic layup plus the foul, and then knocked down another 3. He scored 12 points in the fourth to help the Sixers seal a Game 2 win.

"He just wanted them," coach Nick Nurse said of Maxey. "I mean, I think you probably all could see that. He kind of looked at me for a play call, and I looked at him and called, and he's like, ‘I got it.’ He knew what he was, you know, and he hit that one, and then he came down again (and hit another)."

To Nurse's point, it was time for Maxey to close the game out. Edgecombe had done his job to get the Sixers into a position to win the game, but it was time for Maxey to do what he does and finish off the Celtics to ensure Philadelphia would walk away with a win.

"I just said VJ did his job," Maxey said. "He did his job. He got us here. We went up, they kind of cut the lead to two, and I said 'All right, it’s my time to you know, close the game out.' And he told me, he said, 'Get Paul (George) going early in the fourth and you just close the game out.' So I did. I got Paul going early. They started throwing different things at him. Like I said, we went up two, they cut the lead, and I just had to put the game away."

As this series now shifts to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Friday, there will be more responsibility and pressure on Maxey to close games out. He will look to learn from his past experiences and help push them forward against a tough Celtics team.

This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers' Tyrese Maxey talks taking over late in Game 2 win over Celtics