Sixers-Pacers takeaways: Joel Embiid impacted by knee; Nico Batum is a trooper; team misses Tobias Harris

INDIANAPOLIS – Joel Embiid’s knee is still bothering him.

Nico Batum is a fighter, and the 76ers miss Tobias Harris’ presence.

Those three things stood out in the Sixers’ 134-122 loss to the Indiana Pacers Thursday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Embiid was far from his dominant self. Sure, the reigning MVP scored 31 points to extend his streak of 30-plus-point performances to 21 games. He gave his teammates and Sixers fans a scare when he fell awkwardly and grabbed his left knee during the game.

But even before then, the seven-time All-Star was sluggish and couldn’t move on defense. He was minus-20 in 31 minutes, 17 seconds on the floor.

Thursday was Embiid’s sixth game back after being sidelined with left knee swelling.

“I haven’t been feeling too well, but I just got to keep battling,” he said of his knee. “I can manage it, and go from there.”

He made 11 of 20 shots. Embiid usually has his way with Myles Turner. But on this night, he had a tough time keeping up with the Pacers center. Turner had 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting — including making 3 of 6 three-pointers — to go with nine rebounds and two blocks.

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Meanwhile, Pascal Siakam kept crashing the lane, scoring easy baskets over the solid rim protector. The Pacers scored 68 points in the paint.

The Sixers weren’t very good at guarding the initial action. But Embiid was too slow to move over to react.

Nick Nurse addressed the media before Embiid during postgame. The coach was asked if the center was hampered by his knee or an illness.

“Not that I know of on either one of those,” Nurse said. “But I agree with you. He was a little sluggish. But he wasn’t the only one that looked sluggish.

“Don’t say Joel looked sluggish because you can go down a pretty good list there if you wanted to, yep.”

Batum could have easily missed the game.

The Sixers forward hadn’t been in a basketball setting since Monday’s victory over the San Antonio Spurs. Dealing with an illness, Batum spent all of Tuesday and Wednesday in bed, leading to his missing Wednesday’s practice. Still sick, he wasn’t on hand at the Thursday morning shootaround.

But knowing the Sixers were undermanned, the 35-year-old arrived at the arena right before the start of the game to play.

He finished with 10 points, on 4-for-5 shooting — including making 2 of 3 three-pointers.

“The first half was a nightmare for me,” Batum said. “I tried. I was shooting well, but I couldn’t move the way I wanted. I couldn’t do what I wanted, because I didn’t have the motor on defense.”

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The Sixers were without Harris (illness), 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).

“So I had to give it a try,” he said.

But Batum had no idea what type of performance he would be capable of producing.

“My team needs me,” he said. “I try to bring something. I tried to bring something, I could have done better, though. The energy wasn’t there.”

Like Batum, Harris missed Wednesday’s practice and Thursday morning shootaround. However, he was ruled out around an hour before the game.

His presence was missed on both sides of the floor. Harris has been playing more aggressive over the past couple of weeks. He had also been knocking down shots and playing solid defense. His absence created a void on a night the Sixers made just 7 of 29 three-pointers and struggled to make stops.