Sixers Bell Ringer: Tyrese Maxey’s second-half surge not enough, Philadelphia falls flat against depleted Heat

Sixers Bell Ringer regular season standings

Seth Curry: 7

Joel Embiid: 7

Tyrese Maxey: 6

Tobias Harris: 3

Andre Drummond: 3

Furkan Korkmaz: 1

Charles Bassey: 1

Facing a Miami Heat team without Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, the Philadelphia 76ers looked in line for their 16th win of the season. But Sixers games rarely unfold as anticipated and that was the case Wednesday evening. Miami ran an active zone much of the night, limited Joel Embiid’s post touches and drilled 18 threes to snag a 101-96 win, despite a late comeback from Philadelphia. The Sixers played quite poorly, headlined by perplexing decisions from the coaching staff. It’s time to talk Bell Ringer. Let’s get to it.

Tyrese Maxey: 27 points, five assists, one block

Fresh off his first 20-point outing since late November, Maxey followed it up with another dazzling performance. He’s now scored at least 20 in back-to-back games for the first time since a three-game stretch during Philadelphia’s West Coast swing last month. After notching 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first half, Maxey exploded with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting following intermission and led the Sixers back from an ugly 23-point deficit. Between the 8:24 mark of the third and 9:22 mark of the fourth, he scored or assisted on 23 of Philadelphia’s 28 points, punctuated by this electric sequence.

In the second half, Maxey finally got significant run with a bench-heavy lineup during a game Joel Embiid played and delivered in a big way. That needs to continue. Defensively, he applied impactful ball pressure on the perimeter, rotated well as a helper and even notched a rejection. This was a stellar game from the 21-year-old.

Danny Green: Nine points, six rebounds, five steals, two assists

If Maxey was the Batman of Philadelphia’s comeback effort, Green was its Robin and set the tone defensively after Miami dropped 58 first-half points. The veteran wing effectively tracked assignments through screens, seemingly made every necessary off-ball rotation and was a menace in the passing lanes en route to five takeaways. His teammates appeared to feed off all that vigor and complemented his activity with heightened tenacity. Despite starting 1-of-6 beyond the arc, he drilled a couple long balls late and finished 3-of-8 from deep. Classic Danny Green showing in this one.

Tobias Harris: 24 points, five rebounds, four assists

During a slog of a first half offensively, Harris’ team-high 15 points kept the Sixers afloat. He struggled for a lengthy portion of the second half, but attacked downhill for a key bucket in the fourth and later, canned the game-tying triple on a savvy play design. Harris drove the ball well, avoided too many stagnant possessions and fired up a season-high seven threes, knocking down a trio of them to tie a season-high.