76ers' Tyrese Maxey questionable for Game 2 due to illness

76ers’ Tyrese Maxey questionable for Game 2 due to illness

NEW YORK — Philadelphia 76ers All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey did not attend Monday’s morning shootaround at Madison Square Garden due to an illness and will be listed as questionable for Game 2 against the New York Knicks.

Maxey, 23, had 33 points in 44 minutes in Philadelphia’s 111-104 loss in Game 1 of the first-round playoff series Saturday night, using his blazing speed to get to the rim at will, particularly in the second half. But when the team arrived Monday morning for shootaround, Maxey was the only player missing, with the team announcing his status change a short time later.

Joel Embiid was in attendance, though, after his brief exit from Saturday’s game after he landed awkwardly on his left leg late in the second quarter after throwing down a ridiculous one-handed dunk after catching an alley-oop to himself off the backboard. He had a procedure on the lateral meniscus in his left knee back in February.

Embiid, who was wearing dark sunglasses after appearing to get poked in the eye during Saturday’s game, is also questionable due to left knee injury recovery.

The 76ers, who have reached the second round in five of the past six seasons, will hope to even this best-of-7 series at a game apiece Monday night, before the series shifts back to Philadelphia for Games 3 and 4 Thursday night and Sunday afternoon, respectively.

The Knicks, on the other hand, are hoping to establish a 2-0 lead in a series for the first time since doing so against the Boston Celtics in 2013 — the only time the Knicks have done so this century.