What is the story about?
Welcome back, big fella.
The Tyrese Maxey-less Sixers were able to get back on track, knocking off the Indiana Pacers 115-105 Friday night.
Joel Embiid easily had his best game since the 2024 playoffs, going for a season-high 39 points shooting 12-of-23 from the floor along with nine rebounds. VJ Edgecombe started the game brilliantly and finished with 22 points going 6-of-10 from the floor along with five assists and two steals.
Paul George went for 23 shooting 8-of-17 from the floor, while Pascal
Siakam led the Pacers with 20.
Maxey missed his first game of the year with an illness, joining Kelly Oubre Jr. and Trendon Watford on the inactive list. Indiana was obviously without Tyrese Halliburton, Aaron Nesmith, and Obi Toppin.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
- The Sixer who stepped up first in the absence of Maxey was George, who knocked down his first two jumpers of the night. He helped the Sixers start at a fast pace, pushing it up for a lob and a three on following possessions. One of those fast breaks was started thanks to George himself intercepting a pass.
- Edgecombe was also a big help in getting the Sixers to play fast early. Every outlet pass he caught he was trying to get down to the rim. On one drive he took off a bit too early, and leaving an ambitious poster attempt 0ver Siakam. His shot was falling from outside early as he went for 14 in the first, a new career-high for any quarter for him.
- This was a controversial topic last game, but Embiid looked to be moving fairly well, importantly on defense as well. The rim got left out to dry a couple times as the Pacers turned three quick offensive rebounds into six second-chance points, but he had some strong contests, picking up one early block. For what could easily be the first time this year, the opponent had a notably easier time getting to their spots once Embiid went to the bench. As hot as the Sixers’ young guards were to start the game, they closed the quarter with just a three-point lead.
Second Quarter
- The Sixers started the quarter leaving T.J. McConnell wide open for three, and he stepped into it and made them pay. Some more established three-point shooters got going to start the quarter as the Sixers were not as tight on the perimeter as the Pacers ripped off a 12-3 run. While McConnell was giving them nightmares off the dribble, Jared McCain was able to give him a taste of his own medicine — swiping an outlet pass on an unsuspecting McConnell for a wide open layup.
- That perimeter defense markedly improved upon Edgecombe’s return to the game. Both Edgecombe and George were very active causing deflections — it was easily the best thing they had going on for them defensively early, and they answered . Embiid had a much more efficient second shift, able to take Isaiah Jackson off the dribble and get going in the midrange.
- He would cool off a bit, getting a little out of control on a pair of drives and missed a rare set of both free throws, but he settled for 15 points in the quarter. Outside of two games, he has not shot the three-ball well this year at all, as LB alum SixersAdam pointed out the other day. He finally got one to go as the half expired though, giving the Sixers a five-point lead at the break.
Third Quarter
- The momentum built by Embiid to close to half was built on to start the second. He continued to knock down jumpers at a blistering rate, including from behind the arc as he knocked another one down. Perhaps the most encouraging play was when he backed down Jay Huff on the block for an easy layup. For what felt like the first time in ages, Embiid received MVP chants from his home crowd.
- Quentin Grimes and Dominick Barlow each chipped in with some baskets after a quiet start, but it was a classic Embiid third quarter, again a welcomed sight that hasn’t been seen in so long. It felt like an automatic basket or trip to the line, no matter if the Pacers were in man or zone. Embiid easily passed his season-high midway through the quarter. His play in the quarter got Maxey to fire off a mid-game tweet.
- The production outside of Embiid began to run as dry as it had all night. The Pacers took advantage to erase a double-digit lead and retake the lead with a couple minutes left in the quarter. Running the offense through Edgecombe felt like the right thing to do, but he wasn’t able to get clean looks on his drives. George briefly steadied the ship, hitting a circus jumper from the free throw line that turned into a three-point play. A couple possessions later he knocked another from behind the arc, but a bad offensive rebound scooped up by McConnell allowed the Pacers to tie the game up at 90 as the quarter closed.
Fourth Quarter
- Again with Embiid on the bench, the Sixers suddenly had no answer for anything in the paint. Andre Drummond grabbed some tough offensive rebounds, but allowed too many on the other end as well. With their only source of scoring at the moment being pull-up jumpers from George, they struggled to keep up. This was yet another time when the Sixers, with a fair amount of bench guys out there, did not go to McCain despite struggling offensively.
- The Sixers’ defense did improve upon Edgecombe and Embiid’s returns to the game, they held the Pacers scoreless for over three minutes. The Sixers slowly clawed their way back, but missed free throws only let them tie the game rather than taking the lead. The Pacers took the lead right back after Embiid fouled a three-point shooter.
- Despite Alaa incorrectly attributing his scoring to bench points, it was actually Barlow who got the Sixers’ offense out of a rut. He actually made both of his free throws in a change of pace, and then hit a push shot set up by George to break a fairly long Sixers’ field goal drought.
- Of course it was Embiid who hit the big momentum shot to cap off a 13-2 Sixers’ run. A broken possession led to a heavily contested Grimes three, but Embiid put himself in great position to scoop up the offensive layup, put it back, and get fouled for his troubles. Grimes followed that up with a trip to the line of his own, and when George got all the way to the hoop for a layup it gave the Sixers enough of a cushion to put this one away.
