Another day, another matchup where Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey continues to impress.

As the Sixers continued with their long 6-game road trip on Saturday against the Portland Trail Blazers, Maxey had himself another big game. Despite playing in a hostile environment and battling two strong Portland guards, he did not back down as he scored 28 points on 9-for-17 shooting, 9-for-9 from the foul line, eight assists, and zero turnovers in the 118-111 loss.

Maxey had a tough time with Damian Lillard as he dropped 39 points for the Blazers, but he continues to impress as a 21-year old kid in his second season. He had 15 points in the fourth quarter alone as he helped Philadelphia get back in it a bit.

“His focus keeps growing,” said coach Doc Rivers. “His voice keeps getting louder. I’m just proud of how he’s approaching games. I didn’t think he had his best defensive night tonight. I thought he was into Lillard’s body in the first game and I thought tonight he gave me too much room you just can’t give him room. You can’t because then you get picked and you’re off and you’re behind. Other than that, I thought he was fantastic.”

There is just so much to Maxey’s game that continues to develop. He has a strong offensive package that includes being able to finish over bigger guys at the rim, he is able to finish herky-jerky layups up and under defenders and he is able to finish floaters in the paint as well.

“I think his development is happening very quick and he’s definitely turned into a killer,” said Georges Niang. “The kid just gets the ball and you turn and think you’re running somewhere and next thing you know he’s doing that funky right-hand layup that seems to go in every time. The growth of him has been amazing to see, especially since the beginning of the year.”

The biggest thing at the forefront of Maxey’s mind is winning. The Sixers have not done a whole lot of that lately as they have now dropped six of their past seven games, but once Joel Embiid returns plus Maxey’s continued strong play could do wonders for Philadelphia.

“I have really great teammates and a really, really good coaching staff,” said Maxey. “When those guys believe in me and trust in me, and they have my back, that’s really all I need. To know that those guys have my back and the coaching staff has my back, the organization is helping me. I just want to go out there and play extremely hard and do whatever it takes to help us win.”

Maxey has continued to work with Rivers as well as assistant coach Sam Cassell in order to improve and grow as a player and the work he has put in has helped him out on the floor. He has certainly made a fan out of Niang.

“I didn’t know much of Tyrese but he has a whole lot of [expletive] to his game and it’s pretty impressive to see it every day and see every notch of his game get unlocked,” Niang added. “He’s making shots, he’s making fall-aways. I know he works with Sam and that’s kind of Sam’s shot but he’s kind of adopted that fall away and he’s making three’s. The kid has been doing it all and I couldn’t be more happy for him.”

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!