Tim BontempsDec 4, 2025, 11:57 PM ETCloseTim Bontemps is a senior NBA writer for ESPN. com who covers the league and what's impacting it on and off the court, including trade deadline intel, expansion and his MVP Straw Polls. You can find Tim alongside Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon on The Hoop Collective podcast. Follow on XEmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsPHILADELPHIA -- 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey's scoring prowess turned him into an All-Star -- and this season potentially an All-NBA selection -- during his five-plus NBA seasons. But on Thursday night, it was a spectacular defensive play that allowed Maxey and the 76ers to escape with a heart-stopping 99-98 victory over the Golden State Warriors at Xfinity Mobile Arena, as he raced from one end of the court to the other in seemingly the blink of an eye to swat a potential game-winning layup by Warriors guard De'Anthony Melton and stave off what would've been a horrific 76ers collapse."I just wanted to make a play," Maxey said, "and try to help us win that game."And he did, allowing the 76ers to earn a win four days after they played the Atlanta Hawks here in a similarly wild contest, one Philadelphia lost in double overtime. This one, though, had an even more unforgettable ending. After the Warriors -- playing without Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler III, who were ruled out before the game, and Draymond Green, who left in the second quarter after reaggravating a foot injury -- had erased a 24-point lead late in the fourth quarter, 76ers rookie guard VJ Edgecombe managed to convert an offensive rebound off a Maxey missed jumper with 0.9 to go."We know he can score, we know he can pass, but he does things that don't show up in the box score all the time," Maxey said of Edgecombe's knack for chasing the ball on plays such as that."He made a hell of a play. For him to be able to go out there and track the ball, and tip it in like that?
