George, Maxey, Combine for 73 Points In Philadelphia’s Win Over Charlotte

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Talking about being a phone booth bucket getter, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey just displayed one of the best scoring duo performances in the ongoing NBA regular season on December 17, 2024.

Eager to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a bounce-back win after losing to the Indiana Pacers four days ago, the 1-2 punch scored 73 of the team’s total points during their convincing 121-108 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.

Maxey led all scorers in the game with a 40-point masterpiece, while George backstopped him with 33 points on an efficient 13 /20 shooting from the field.

George, who is having an inconsistent season due to injuries, had his best scoring performance for the 76ers in the ongoing NBA season.

The former Los Angeles Clippers skipper was a walking bucket for Philadelphia and converted six out of his nine total attempts from the three-point territory.

George quickly got hot from deep, spraying back-to-back triples in the opening frame that steered the 76ers to an eight-point lead heading into the second quarter.

When George took a seat for a breather, Maxey picked up where he left off and schooled Charlotte’s perimeter defense with his aggressive drives to the basket.

Despite not shooting the ball efficiently like George, Maxey made a living in the charity stripe and shot 10/13 with his free throws.

Philadelphia established its largest advantage of the ball game at 21 points but the Hornets inched close in the fourth, thanks to several timely baskets from Miles Bridges and the returning LaMelo Ball.

When the Hornets trimmed their deficit to just a single digit, the dynamic duo put Philadelphia on their back as they nailed the cold-blooded baskets to help the 76ers balloon their cushion again to double digits in the last two minutes of the ball game.

Aside from George’s scoring clinic, the veteran small forward also had an all-around game and tallied eight assists, five rebounds, two steals, and a block.

Maxey also delivered the intangibles, diming the ball five times while pulling down five rebounds alongside four steals.

On the other hand, the Hornets received a 24-point outing from Bridges and 15 from Ball but Brandon Miller, the team’s uprising scoring machine, only chipped in 12 after averaging almost 30 points during his last six games.