Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey named finalist for NBA's Most Improved Player Award
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey was named a finalist for the NBA's Most Improved Player Award on Sunday night.
Maxey was named a finalist for the award alongside Alperen Şengün of the Houston Rockets and Coby White of the Chicago Bulls.
In his fourth year in the NBA, Maxey once again took another leap as the Sixers' true No. 2 scoring option alongside Joel Embiid after James Harden was dealt to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Maxey made his first-ever All-Star team and set career highs in scoring at 25.9, assists at 6.2 and rebounds at 3.7. His 3-point percentage went down slightly, but he was also attempting two more threes per game. He increased his scoring average by nearly six points after averaging 20.3 points per game in the 2022-23 season.
Maxey also helped keep the Sixers afloat in the playoff hunt as Embiid dealt with a knee injury that sidelined him for two months of the season. Maxey had three games this season where he scored at least 50 points, including a career-high 52-point performance against the San Antonio Spurs.
Maxey scored 33 points on Saturday night as the Sixers lost to the New York Knicks, 111-104, in Game 1 of the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Game 2 between the Sixers and Knicks will be on Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.