PHILADELPHIA -- It's obvious that Philadelphia 76ers star Tyrese Maxey is still dealing with the effects of a right finger tendon strain that he suffered in early March. He is still able to put up high scoring numbers, but his shooting percentages aren't great at the moment.After shooting just 12-for-31 and 5-for-13 from deep in Friday's Game 3 loss to the Boston Celtics, Maxey is shooting only 39.2% from the floor in this series. The Celtics have a lot of long and rangy defenders that they can throw at Maxey, but he was able to have success in the second half on Friday as he shot 9-for-18 to score 22 points after shooting just 3-for-13 in the first half."It definitely was a couple times in the first half where I probably should have shot a floater," Maxey said.
"I kind of just made the adjustment in the second half at just picking my spot, getting to my mid range, and just shooting it. It’s a shot that I can make. A shot that I work on.
So 3s and middies, floaters, that's really it. They pull them in so hard and make it difficult for me to get layups. So, you know, taking shar the defense gives me."One has to wonder if the splint on Maxey's finger is bothering him.
It's obvious that he's had to play through it and he has had to shoot through it all to try and find a rhythm. He confirmed that the splint is going to be on his finger for the rest of the season, regardless of how far this season goes for Philadelphia, and he just needs to figure it out."It’s just, at this point, it's just the splint’s there, you know what I mean?" Maxey said.
"I gotta shoot those shots. Entering halftime, I think I had four 3s, and everybody's telling me that's just not gonna cut. It's not gonna cut it shooting four 3s.
So I had to generate more. When I generate more 3s, it’s good for us."Maxey and the Sixers will look to even the series in Game 4 on Sunday.This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers' Tyrese Maxey talks shooting struggles, splint on his finger