PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Tyrese Maxey had 29 points and eight steals hours after being named an All-Star starter for the first time and Joel Embiid had 30 points and nine rebounds to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 113-104 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night.
Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 18 points, and all five starters hit double figures.
Andrew Nembhard led the Pacers with 25 points and Pascal Siakam had 24 points on a night in which Indiana sports
fans were more likely tuned to the college football national championship game.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle lamented before the game he would miss the showdown between the Hoosiers and Miami.
He called it a “bummer.”
Carlisle likely felt much the same way after the Pacers followed a modest three-game win streak with their third loss in four games.
Maxey — who thanked his “fellow Americans” for voting him into the game — shot 12 of 24 from the floor and added eight assists as he continued to show why he is one of the NBA's rising stars.
Maxey was named one of the five starters out of the Eastern Conference and is set to play for the United States in the first version of the U.S. vs. The World for next month's All-Star game.
Maxey will make his first start and earned his second selection for the Sixers on the strength of averaging 30.3 points headed into the game.
Maxey said he was asleep when rookie teammate V.J. Edgecombe called around 2 p.m. to congratulate him on the selection. Maxey then took an excited phone call from his mom — and he went back to bed.
The 76ers sleepwalked through most of the first three quarters and trailed the 10-win Pacers at halftime and only led 82-81 at the end of the third quarter.
By the time Embiid helped put some distance between the Pacers, Maxey was subbed out for good late in the fourth and earned a rousing ovation from Sixers fans.
Indiana: At Boston on Wednesday.
76ers: Host Phoenix on Tuesday.
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