Sixers vs. Pacers takeaways: Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey two-man game looks unstoppable; Philly better without James Harden

At times, the Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey pick-and-roll looks close to unstoppable. The 76ers are a better team without James Harden. And T.J. McConnell is still that feisty player the Sixers fan base used to adore.

Those three things stood out in the Sixers’ 137-126 victory Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center.

Here are the takeaways:

The Sixers relied heavily on the Maxey and Embiid pick-and-roll to start the game. And that resulted in the duo combining to score the team’s first 13 points. Nearly unstoppable, the two actually scored 22 of the Sixers’ first 26 points on 8-for-11 shooting.

But that was only a preview of their dominance.

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Maxey finished with a career-high 50 points along with seven rebounds, five assists and three blocks. He scored 17 points in the second quarter and 16 in the fourth. Meanwhile, Embiid added 37 points, a game-high 13 rebounds and seven assists. Nineteen of his points came in the first quarter.

In the process, they became the fourth pair of teammates since the 1997-98 season to score at least 25 points each in the first half. Embiid had 26 points, while Maxey added 25.

And their 87 combined points put them in a four-way tie for seventh-place for the most points scored by two players.

Through nine games, Embiid is the league’s second-leading scorer at 32.4 points. Maxey is ninth at 28.6. That makes them the league’s highest scoring duo.

At 8-1, the Sixers have secured their best start since opening the season 9-0 during the 2000-01 season.

A lot of people didn’t see that coming when James Harden refused to play for Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and requested a trade. The belief was the Sixers were going to take a step back without last season’s assist leader.

But the Sixers are a quicker team without Harden, who was sent to the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 1 in a blockbuster trade. Nic Batum and Robert Covington, two of the players acquired in that deal, make the Sixers a more versatile and better defensive squad.

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Maxey and Tobias Harris have also been able to flourish in larger roles with Harden no longer dominating the ball.

“He’s about as big time as it gets,” McConnell said of Maxey. “Good kid, but his skill level is remarkable. The jump he’s made year-and-year and the growth that he’s made, I mean James leaving, and now they give him the ball and give him the freedom to show what he can do and he’s not disappointing. He’s a great, great guard.”

While the Sixers are better without Harden, the Clippers (3-6) have struggled since the trade. They’re on a five-game losing streak, with the last four coming with Harden playing. He is averaging 14.3 points, 4.7 assists and three turnovers.

McConnell was a major pest for opposing players as a Sixer from 2015-2019. Apparently nothing has changed in his fifth season as a Pacer. The point guard stared down his former teammates and talked trash during breaks in action. McConnell also displayed the relentlessness that made him a fan favorite as a Sixer.

He finished with eight points on 3-for-6 shooting along with a game-high three steals and one block. McConnell was a team-best plus-10 in 16 minutes, 45 seconds.