3 keys in the Milwaukee Bucks high-profile matchup vs Philadelphia 76ers

Apr 22, 2021; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA (Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports)
Apr 22, 2021; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA (Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports) /
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Milwaukee Bucks: Grayson Allen, Jrue Holiday, Philadelphia 76ers: Tyrese Maxey, Shake Milton
Nov 9, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

Jrue Holiday defending Tyrese Maxey will be a lot of fun

I may have exaggerated when I said that Embiid has no help whatsoever. Sure, I’m not the biggest Tobias Harris (Bucks draft pick!) fan, but he’s solid. I am a big fan, though, of guard Tyrese Maxey and have thoroughly enjoyed his breakout season.

The 21-year-old is averaging 16.9 points on 56.7 percent true shooting, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.6 assists in 35.5 minutes per game. He has taken full advantage of the opportunity to play more while Simmons was away from the team and likely made it easier for Philly to trade Simmons as well.

He led the way for the Sixers as the first option on offense when these teams played in November. He scored 31 points on 61.2 percent true shooting, along with five rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block. He went 4-of-9 from 3 and those 31 points are the third-most he’s scored this season.

That was also Holiday’s third game back from his ankle sprain early in the season and we all remember how rough he looked on offense, but he was also limited defensively a bit as well. He didn’t guard Maxey a ton (only around two and a half minutes) but limited him to 1-of-4 shooting, including 0-of-2 from deep.

Holiday is more than ok now and without Hill, Allen, and Connaughton (who all saw time against Maxey in that game), will be tasked with shutting down the super sophomore.

When Maxey gets to run the show by himself while Embiid sits, expect to see a ton of attention paid to him as he’s a much more dynamic offensive player than Harris or any of the other Sixers that will be available tonight.

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The Bucks have had to deal with being shorthanded basically all season and this will be yet another test, going up against one of the top six teams in the East.