Pacers lose close game to Tyrese Maxey, LeBron James and the 76ers

INDIANAPOLIS -- A hobbled roster didn't stop the Pacers from fighing hard as they battled the Philadelphia 76ers the entirety of the game.

Trailing by 15 in the second quarter, Indiana erased the deficit to take a 13 point lead heading into the fourth. But unfortunately, their offense ran out of gas as the 76ers star power came alive and dominated the final 12 minutes, as Philly outscored Indiana 39-21 fourth.

Tyrese Maxey was coldblooded in the fourth quarter, as he dropped 17 fourth points and put the struggling Sixers on his back. He was the difference in the game, and clearly too much for the Pacers.

Here are three takeaways from tonight's game.

Primetime P

Pascal Siakam delivered another big time performance despite the Pacers loss. He stepped up in a big way as the focal point of the offense with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists.

His scoring was steady throughout the game dropping 8 in the first quarter, 4 in the second, 8 in the third and 6 in the fourth.

With Tyrese Haliburton sidelined the next few weeks, it will be even more of a burden to carry the scoring load on a nightly basis. So far, he's scored 20 points or more in each of the Pacers five games...but he can't do it alone.

Nembhard steps up without Haliburton

With Tyrese Haliburton sidelined with a hamstring strain, running the offense became the responsibility of Andrew Nembhard.

Not only did running the offense fall on his shoulders, but he was assigned the difficult task of guarding Tyrese Maxey --who came into tonight's game averaging 28 points per game. Through three quarters he had held him in check, but Maxey is a star for a reason. The 76ers hunted switches to free Maxey up, which is a respect to how good of a defender Nembhard is, but also how challenging it is to defend him.

Offensively, Nembhard finished the game with 18 points on 5-16 shooting from the field, 1-4 from three and went 7-8 from the free throw line. He added 3 rebounds, 14 assists and 4 turnovers. His physicality was key to his offensive success, specifically getting to the free throw line.

Pacers dominate 76ers in 3rd Quarter

Indiana ended the 2nd quarter on an 8-3 run to cut the 76ers lead to 10.

Coming out of the half, the 76ers missed 9 straight baskets while the Pacers went on a 17-0 run. LeBron James and Tyrese Maxey hit back-to-back threes to stop the bleeding and cut the Pacers lead to 1.

After Carlisle called a timeout, the Pacers got their groove back and went on another strong run (19-7) to the end the quarter. They outscored Philly 36-13 in this period and went on a 44-16 run if you include the closing of the 2nd quarter, taking an 88-75 lead into the fourth.

Here are the stats from the dominate period:

Indiana shot 13-23 from the field, 3-9 from three-point range and 7-8 from the free throw line. Philly shot 5-21 from the field, 2-7 from three and just 1-1 from the free throw line.

The Pacers out rebounded the 76ers 19-7 and had 11 assists to their 3.

Indiana starters were impressive during this stretch getting 9 points from Nembhard, 8 from Siakam, 8 from Nesmith and 6 from Oubre. Maxey was the only player on the 76ers that made more than one field goal (he made 2 for 5 points)

Indiana had a ridiculous 150.0 offensive rating, while Philadelphia came in at a lowly 54.2.

You can follow me on X @AlexGoldenNBA and listen to my daily podcast, Setting The Pace, wherever you get your podcasts.

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