Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid too much for Indiana Pacers on Sunday night
The Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers faced off on Sunday night in Philly. It was the first meeting of the season between the two teams, and both teams were hot entering the night.
The 76ers were on a seven-game winning streak while the Pacers had won three in a row. Something was going to give between the two clubs, who both were in the top-three of the Eastern Conference entering the night.
Philadelphia opened the game on a strong foot. After the Pacers tied the game at four, the 76ers went on an 11-2 run. Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, Philly's star players, were crushing Indiana with their two-man game. They scored the first 13 points for the home team.
A Tobias Harris layup put the Sixers up 15-6, and that prompted a timeout by Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle. His team was in need of a reset early.
The timeout helped the Pacers offensively. They scored on five of their next seven possessions to keep the game close. But they couldn't get stops at all, and the Sixers lead kept getting bigger. Carlisle called another timeout with the score at 28-17 with 4:45 to go in the first frame. The blue and gold were having rough results on defense.
This time, the stoppage got Indiana going. Buddy Hield made several huge plays on both ends to help keep the Pacers in it, and they started to cut into the lead. That prevented things from getting ugly early.
Philly closed the quarter strong, and they led 38-27 after 12 minutes. Embiid played the whole quarter and had 19 points and five rebounds. He dominated early, and the blue and gold had to win the minutes when he sat.
The second quarter began with Embiid on the bench, but Maxey was phenomenal and made it tough on the Pacers. It took less than 15 minutes for the 76ers to reach 50 total points, they were tough to cover.
Maxey hit a stepback three with 9:05 on the clock in the second quarter, and that got him to 19 points. At that point, he and Embiid had combined for 38 points alone. The Pacers had 36. They were a dominant duo and had Philly up by 17.
In search of energy, Indiana turned to T.J. McConnell at that point. He did well to stabilize his team, and they cut into the lead slightly. Embiid returned to the court with his team holding a 14-point advantage.
The Pacers surged and cut the lead down to seven soon after. Their speed was helping them keep up with Philly, and McConnell's energy was helping. They finally had a winning formula with two guards on the floor.
The 76ers did their thing again to close the half, but the Pacers stayed with it and trailed by just nine at halftime, 69-60. After trailing by 19 earlier in the half, Indiana had to be happy with how they closed the second period. Tyrese Haliburton had 13 points to lead the Pacers at halftime. Embiid (26 points) and Maxey (25) were awesome through two frames.
The second half began with a show from Haliburton. He scored eight points and dished out two assists in the first three-and-a-half minutes of the half, and Indiana got a few stops during that stretch. They cut the lead down to two at 77-75 during that span, and Philly took a timeout.
The timeout got the 76ers out of a rut, but they still had conceded momentum. The Pacers were able to keep it close for much of the next stretch of the game and were down by just five at 92-87 four minutes later. Indiana had their footing.
With the lead at four a few minutes later, Pacers center Myles Turner bobbled a defensive rebound, and Philadelphia recovered it before hitting a three. It was their 14th offensive board, and they nailed another triple on the next possession. That was a key sequence as the Sixers took a ten-point lead.
Aaron Nesmith hit a key three right after to steady the tide, and Jalen Smith drilled one right after. It was an impressive response by Indiana late in the quarter, and they trailed by just one point after three quarters at 100-99. Haliburton had eight points and nine assists in the third frame alone.
The final period opened up with both teams scoring well, but Indiana's bench started better. After an Aaron Nesmith layup, the Pacers took their first lead at 105-104 after about 90 seconds of fourth quarter play.
The 76ers went on a quick 5-0 run to respond. That was a big moment for the home team with Embiid on the bench. They needed to get control back.
Indiana went to a three point guard group with all three of Haliburton, McConnell, and Andrew Nembhard in the ensuing stretch. It kept the Pacers close for a few minutes.
Maxey found his stride again with about six minutes to go. He hit a crucial stepback triple with just over five minutes remaining and reached 43 points, and Philly took an 11-point lead soon after. Maxey was terrific.
With 3:34 on the lock and the 76ers ahead by 10, Embiid returned to the game. He scored 40 seconds later, and the Pacers were out of answers. Despite erasing the early 19-point deficit, they couldn't slow down Philadelphia's stars.
In the end, the Sixers won 137-126. Indiana led for 32 seconds near the beginning of the fourth quarter, but they didn't have enough for all 48 minutes. Indiana is now 6-4.
Haliburton finished with 25 points and 17 assists. Turner had 22 points. Maxey and Embiid were dominant, finishing with 50 and 37 points, respectively. They got it done.
The 76ers have won eight in a row. They will host the Pacers once again in an In-Season tournament game on Tuesday.
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