INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tyrese Maxey scored 32 points, Paul George had 21 and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Indiana Pacers 105-94 on Friday night to snap a three-game skid.
VJ Edgecombe scored 16 points, Kelly Oubre Jr. had 15 and Andre Drummond had 16 rebounds and 10 points for the Sixers (44-37), who maintained their eighth-place position in the Eastern Conference with one game remaining.
A year after they made it to Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Pacers
(19-62) ensured they will finish with the second-worst record in the league.
Jarace Walker led Indiana with 17 points, followed by Quenton Jackson with 16 and Ethan Thompson with 15. Micah Potter had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Pacers went 14 of 50 from 3-point range, while the Sixers were 5 of 29. Indiana had 21 turnovers while the Sixers had just eight.
Philadelphia finished with a 64-28 advantage in points in the paint.
The Sixers led 58-51 at halftime. Indiana tied it twice in the third quarter, the last time at 64-all, before Philadelphia closed the quarter with a 25-13 stretch to take an 89-77 lead.
Philadelphia big man Joel Embiid, who averages 27 points, had an appendectomy on Thursday in Houston and was released from the hospital Friday. Coach Nick Nurse said the surgery went well, but there is no timetable for Embiid's return.
Indiana was without coach Rick Carlisle, who missed his second consecutive game to attend his daughter’s sorority spring parents formal at the University of Virginia. He will return for Sunday’s season finale.
Sixers: Host Milwaukee on Sunday.
Pacers: Host Detroit on Sunday.
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