The Indiana Pacers were unable to contain either Tyrese Maxey or Joel Embiid as they lost to the Philadelphia 76ers by a final score of 137-126.
For the second-consecutive game, the Pacers gave up a 50-point performance. This time from Maxey who looked like a superstar with multiple step-back 3-pointers and used his blazing speed to get floaters off of either foot. Indiana had no answers for him or Embiid, who dominated inside with 37 points. Those two and the Pacers inability to secure defensive rebounds when they did force a miss–Sixers had 23 offensive rebounds, Pacers had 24 defensive rebounds–were too much to overcome.
Despite all of that, the Pacers did still have a chance to win this game. Even with falling behind by 19 points early in the first half, they came all the way back to gain their only lead of the night early in the 4th quarter. The rebounding issues went into full effect however as the Pacers didn’t secure a defensive rebound in the final six minutes of the game. The Pacers gave up 9 Sixers offensive rebounds in the final quarter for 15 points.
Philadelphia’s the hottest team in the NBA at the moment as they’ve won 8 consecutive games and the Pacers will get one more chance to beat them on the road as they play again on Tuesday in their second In-Season Tournament matchup of Group Play.
“We’ve got a high-character group. When we get hit in the mouth, we usually respond well. But it’s hard to play from behind in this league,” Carlisle said. “We’ve got to work on getting a better start on Tuesday. This is one of the top two or three teams in the league and we know that, but there are certain things we can and will do better on Tuesday. We need to look at it and be honest about what those things are and make the adjustments.”
Grade time:
T.J. McConnell: A
The Pacers broke McConnell out of his emergency glass box and he provided an instant energy boost for a team that desperately needed one.
“Searching for anybody that would go in there and play to exhaustion, play fearlessly and really just compete as hard as they can,” Carlisle said of the decision to bring the former 76er into the game. “T.J. was one of them. He played a lot of years here and knows what this is all about. He gave us a lift.”
The Pacers outscored the Sixers by 10 over his 17 minutes as he contributed 8 points, 2 rebounds, an assist, three steals, and a block. Multiple times he would make a play when it looked like the Sixers had an advantageous matchup with him switched onto Tobias Harris. He was pesky in his double teams towards Embiid. He secured one of his trademark steals in the backcourt that the TV broadcasts were unable to capture which led to a Myles Turner 3-pointer.
The Pacers simply don’t get back into this game without him. It will be interesting to see how much he plays on Tuesday. He was so impactful in this game that the Sixers broadcast kept cutting to him after every big Maxey shot in the fourth.
Tyrese Haliburton: A
Haliburton had 17 assists and 0 turnovers. It was a flawless offensive performance for the Pacers star who also added 25 points (9 of 14), 2 steals, and a block.
Overshadowed by the dominant duo of Embiid and Maxey, Haliburton did all he could to keep the Pacers in the game. He was especially good in the third quarter where he hit consecutive deep threes and had nine of his assists.
Myles Turner: C+
Turner played better as the game went on after a rough stretch to start the first quarter. Overall, it was a B+ game on offense and a D- game on defense and on the glass. After going just 2 for 8 in the first half, Turner went 5 for 9 in the second half on his way to 22 points for the game.
The only positives you can say on the defensive end for Turner is that he avoided foul trouble against Embiid, which historically has been a major problem for him in the matchup. While he did get 3 blocks, the Pacers were unable to secure possession after any of them. Turner only was able to grab 3 defensive rebounds through the game as even when he was able to force an Embiid miss, he was often unable to stay within range to contest the rebound after the initial shot. On one occasion where he had the chance to gather a miss, it clanked off his hands and ended up as a 76ers 3-pointer. This is not to imply that many other Pacers aren’t also at fault for rebounding issues with missed block-outs and not crashing harder when needed.
Turner did a nice job offensively of getting Embiid to bite on pump fakes from deep and then driving past him. For a brief moment, it looked like Turner was going to get Embiid in early foul trouble after drawing contact on a second drive in the first quarter. No foul was called, however.
Buddy Hield: B
Buddy bounced back from a pair of rough shooting performances to make 4 of his 8 from deep in this game. He made his first two, missed his next four, and made his last two late in the fourth with the game basically over. Still, it was good to see Hield knock down some shots again. He had some fantastic passing in this game as that improved skill continues to pop this season. He had 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Bruce Brown: D+
Brown got cooked by Maxey from the beginning of the game. He tried going under on screens and Maxey would either hit a 3 or somehow still speed by him to hit a floater or get to the rim. He added 9 points (3 of 5), 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in his 31 minutes.
Obi Toppin: C+
Toppin was very active as a cutter and played very well offensively in this game. He scored 14 points (6 of 7) with a pair of threes in just 21 minutes. His grade is lower simply because that was about it with his contributions. In a game where the Pacers needed all the help they could get on the glass, Toppin had just one rebound.
His reverse dunk on Embiid and his alley-oop finish to start the game were incredible highlights. His one assist for a Buddy Hield 3-pointer was perfectly placed on the bounce right behind a Pacers screener. Lots to like on that end of the floor from Toppin in this game.
Quick hits:
Jalen Smith: B-
Smith only played 19 minutes and led the team in rebounding with 6 boards. He had a few where he aggressively pursued the ball after getting switched out to the perimeter. He had some great plays in the third quarter that helped the Pacers be within just one point to start the final quarter including a 3-pointer where he purposefully stepped back to make sure his feet were behind the line. He added 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 assist.
Aaron Nesmith: C+
Nesmith finished with 8 points (3 of 6), 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. He was one of only three Pacers to have a positive +/- in this game.
Bennedict Mathurin: C-
Mathurin came back to Earth a bit after a pair of fantastic performances. He scored 9 points on 11 shots, missed all three of his 3-point attempts.
Andrew Nembhard: D
Nembhard had a costly stretch in the first quarter with three turnovers on consecutive possessions that came just after it looked like the Pacers were starting to get things figured out. He was also repeatedly burnt by Maxey.
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