Shorthanded Sixers lose to Indiana, snap six-game win streak

INDIANAPOLIS – This was a night the 76ers may want to soon forget.

Joel Embiid was sluggish, out of position on defense, and also had a left knee scare after awkwardly falling. Tyrese Maxey struggled to make outside shots and defensive stops. And Tobias Harris was sidelined with an illness.

All that led to the Sixers suffering a 134-122 loss to the Indiana Pacers Thursday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

“You go through this sometimes,” coach Nick Nurse said. “But Pat Bev and Nico [Batum] coming back off illness as well. Give them credit for going out there and trying to do that they can. But I still think you got to play a little better, and guard a little better. We just didn’t have any kind of defensive success. It’s just that we [were] chasing the game from the start.

“I don’t know it started by it was a pretty big number right at the start, kind of chasing it defensively the whole night.”

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Despite their horrible play, the Sixers only trailed by 12 points at intermission. Nurse thought that was a manageable number. However, the Pacers responded with a 9-0 start to open the second half.

“That was pretty telling of us not being able to grasp any energy together tonight, right?” Nurse said.

The loss dropped the Sixers to 29-14 and snapped a six-game winning streak. Meanwhile, the Pacers improved to 25-20, ending a three-game skid. It was Indiana’s second win in seven games.

But this victory enabled them to finish with a 2-1 record in the season series against the Sixers.

Perhaps the only highlight for Philly was this marked the 22nd consecutive game with at least 30 points for Embiid.

The reigning MVP finished with 31 points, seven rebounds, and three assists in 31 minutes, 17 seconds. Embiid and the other starters sat out the fourth quarter.

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With Harris sidelined, the Sixers had a starting lineup of Kelly Oubre Jr., Batum, Embiid, Maxey, and Patrick Beverley.

But with the game out of reach, Sixers two-play players Ricky Council IV and Terquavion Smith played the entire fourth quarter.

Maxey finished with 22 points on 7-for-17 shooting. However, he made just 1 of 8 three-pointers. The point guard was also minus-29 in 28:30. Council finished with a career-high 11 points.

Meanwhile, Pascal Siakam torched the Sixers for 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists in his fourth game as a Pacer after being acquired in a trade from the Toronto Raptors. Myles Turner added 20 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks.

In addition to Harris, the Sixers were without Marcus Morris Sr. (left foot plantar fasciitis), Mo Bamba (right knee inflammation), Robert Covington (left knee bone bruise), Kenny Lofton Jr. (personal reasons), and De’Anthony Melton (back).

The Pacers were without All-Star Tyrese Haliburton (left hamstring strain).

Indiana led by as many as 27 points. The Sixers made just 7 of 29 three-pointers.

“We kind of weathered the storm at the end of that first half,” Maxey said. “Then they hit us again in the second half. Coach said he didn’t like how he felt we kind of gave in or conceded defeat.

“We got to do better with that. That’s a team that’s a difficult team to play. They play fast. They execute on your mistakes and they get out and run so.”

The Sixers traveled to Denver following the game. They’re scheduled to practice in Colorado on Friday before facing the Nuggets in a much-anticipated rematch Saturday at the Pepsi Center. Embiid finished with 41 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds when the Sixers defeated Denver, 126-121, on Jan. 16 at the Wells Fargo Center. Nuggets center Nikola Jokić, a two-time MVP, finished with 25 points and 19 rebounds in the head-to-head battle of the league’s best players.