It wasn’t at all easy, but the Sixers moved to 1-0 this season without Tyrese Maxey on Friday night.
They earned a 115-105 win over the Pacers at Xfinity Mobile Arena with Maxey out because of an illness and now sit at 14-10 overall. Indiana fell to 6-19.
Joel Embiid starred with a season-best 39 points, nine rebounds and three assists. He played a season-high 32 minutes.
VJ Edgecombe posted his fourth 20-point game in the NBA, tallying 22 points, five assists and four rebounds. Paul George had 23 points, six boards and five assists.
Pascal Siakam (20 points) and Andrew Nembhard (18 points) were the Pacers’ top scorers.
In addition to Maxey, the Sixers were down Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee LCL sprain), Trendon Watford (left adductor strain) and Hunter Sallis (right shoulder sprain).
The Sixers will visit the Hawks on Sunday night. Here are observations on their win over the Pacers:
Edgecombe steps up at the start
The Sixers used a starting lineup of Edgecombe, Quentin Grimes, George, Dominick Barlow and Embiid. Grimes’ start was his fifth of the season.
George hit a mid-range jumper on the Sixers’ first possession and chipped in eight points on 3-for-5 shooting, three rebounds and two assists in his opening stint. Edgecombe and George began the night as the Sixers’ primary ball handlers.
Edgecombe had a very strong, attack-minded start.
He canned an early pull-up jumper, slammed in a fast-break dunk, and buried a corner three-pointer to give the Sixers a 19-10 lead. The rookie continued playing sharp, decisive basketball and doing damage as a downhill driver. He stayed on the floor the whole first quarter and racked up 14 points in the period on only six field goal attempts.
Embiid breaks out of shooting slump
The Sixers played Edgecombe and four bench players for the final few minutes of the first quarter.
On the Indiana side, T.J. McConnell ran the second-unit show and caused tons of problems for his former team. He reached 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting with a three early in the second quarter. McConnell then took a charge on Jabari Walker and Jay Huff followed with at triple that pulled the Pacers ahead.
Momentum shifted back toward the Sixers after Embiid checked back in. Embiid, who was coming off of a 4-for-21 shooting game in Sunday’s loss to the Lakers, amped up his aggression in the second quarter and found a scoring rhythm against Pacers big man Jay Huff. He worked for post position, sank mid-range jumpers and drew regular free throws.
Embiid also snapped a prolonged long-range dry spell. He’d gone 0 for 14 for three-point territory over his last three games and missed his first three attempts Friday. Finally, with 1.6 seconds left in the second quarter, Embiid brought the ball forward and swished a three to send the Sixers into halftime with a 63-58 edge.
Sixers shake off more 3rd-quarter trouble
Embiid didn’t stop shooting open jumpers. Threes from Embiid and Grimes pushed the Sixers’ lead to double digits early in the third quarter.
When the Pacers moved to a zone defense, the Sixers fed Embiid often in the high post. His decision-making wasn’t flawless, but he kept producing and making frequent trips to the foul line. Embiid shot a season-high 18 free throws and made 13.
Yet again, the Sixers couldn’t manage a smooth third quarter and the Pacers put together a run.
Isaiah Jackson stripped the ball from Embiid on the perimeter and then drew a loose-ball foul on him. Embiid subbed out and Jackson made his second foul shot to tie the game at 82-all. A few possessions later, Nembhard leaked out for a layup that pushed Indiana in front.
The Sixers didn’t have much offensive support for Embiid, Edgecombe and George.
Jared McCain had five points on 2-for-6 shooting in 14 minutes. Justin Edwards went 0 for 5 from the floor and played 19 scoreless minutes. The Sixers remained behind when Embiid came back for his final stint with a little over seven minutes to go.
The Sixers played good team defense down the stretch, limiting the Pacers’ clean looks and avoiding cheap fouls. Their stars came through, too.
Embiid scored a big put-back bucket, scrapping to grab a Grimes miss and converting an and-one layup that gave the Sixers a 108-102 lead. George made a driving lay-in with just under two minutes to play.
Embiid added one more mid-range hoop in the final minute and wound up exceeding his prior season best in scoring by 10 points.