BBNBA: Reed Sheppard and Tyrese Maxey notch career highs

Tyrese Maxey has played like a man possessed this season, pouring in shots like a Two Keys bartender back in the day. On Thursday, Maxey took his scoring up another notch, posting a fifty-burger (54 to be exact, a new career-high) in the 76ers’ overtime victory against the Bucks. It wasn’t just a scoring blitz; Maxey had a complete game, coming away with nine assists, five rebounds, three blocks and three steals in the game as well.

Maxey became the first Eastern Conference Player to have a 50-point game this season, and the point total made it so that he and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander were the first players in the NBA to eclipse the 500-point mark. Additionally, Maxey became the fastest point guard in NBA history to reach 500 points and 100 assists in a season. Only he and Allen Iverson have ever scored 500 points through the first 15 games in 76ers franchise history.

The former Kentucky guard is averaging over 33 points per game this season, seven more than what he did last year. It may still be early, but don’t completely rule out votes for him for MVP.

Reed Sheppard recorded a career-high scoring night as well

Just one day after Tyrese Maxey posted his career-high, Reed Sheppard did the same. It might not have been a record-smashing 50-spot, but Sheppard scored 27 points off the bench for the Rockets on Friday, albeit in a loss to the Denver Nuggets.

20 of those career-high 27 points came in the first half, as the former North Laurel guard came out of the gate on fire. He also added four assists, two steals, and a plus-13 in the plus-minus column. Sheppard’s 13.6 points per game is almost 10 points more than his season average from a year ago through the first 15 games.

Bill Simmons called Reed Sheppard’s emergence exciting and said that every game, there is a six-minute spurt where it looks like the Rockets have cloned Mark Price. That is a 90’s NBA reference that you’ll need to look up on YouTube yourself, but trust me, it is solid praise.

Despite the career-high, perhaps the best part of the night was, after drilling a 3 over Tim Hardaway Jr., Sheppard started to yell, “Dumbass!” at him, but he caught himself midway through when he remembered he was mic’d up, and turned into, “Dumb…ahhhhhhhhh!”

Other BBNBA Notes:

• It is easy to give Reed Sheppard his flowers for a career-high 27 points, but in the same game, Jamal Murray scored 26 points and dished out 10 assists. Oh, and his team won, if that matters. Murray is averaging a career-high 22.8 points this season, showing that he doesn’t only turn it up for the playoffs.
• With Victor Wembanyama out, De’Aaron Fox has stepped up and served as the star the Spurs need. He is averaging 26.7 points, 7.7 assists and two steals during Wemby’s absence, all while keeping San Antonio undefeated during this stretch.
• And while at his point, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 30-plus points in a Thunder win is no longer news, the fact that it has become so expected is worth noting again. He had games of 33 and 31 points since Wednesday, both (you guessed it) coming in Thunder victories.