Tyrese Maxey’s career-high 50 points propel Sixers to victory over Indiana Pacers

With about a minute left on the clock and a harder-than-initially-expected 76ers victory all but sealed, Joel Embiid “snatched” the ball from De’Anthony Melton.

Not for himself, but to pass it to Tyrese Maxey.

The fourth-year guard had already notched his career-high in scoring. But Embiid wanted Maxey to get 50.

So Maxey took the handoff from his MVP big man and dribbled three times to his left, then created separation with a step-back, then let the deep shot fly.

Splash.

Consider it the latest dazzler in an exceptional start to the season for Maxey. And the Sixers needed just about all of Maxey’s points to hold off the Indiana Pacers, 137-126, Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center to record their eighth consecutive win, putting a celebratory stamp on a night that was initially overshadowed by the aftermath of the news that starting forward Kelly Oubre Jr. had been struck by a car as a pedestrian Saturday in Center City.

“I think Joel wanted me to get 50 more than [I] did,” Maxey said after the game. “He was going to grab the ball and was like, ‘You are going to shoot this basketball.’ I just appreciate my teammates, appreciate the fans, appreciate the coaching staff.

“It was a great night. We got the win. That’s what matters the most.”

Oubre was released from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital late Saturday after being treated for a fractured rib, along with hip and leg injuries. Before the game, coach Nick Nurse and teammates Tobias Harris and Furkan Korkmaz expressed concern for Oubre — and relief that he was already resting at home. Maxey and Embiid echoed those sentiments following the final buzzer.

“It just shows you that it could happen to any of us,” Embiid said. “It was super unlucky. But I’m glad that it wasn’t too bad, because it could have been worse. The game today, I’m sure Tyrese was probably thinking about him. We were all thinking about him. We just want him to take his time and recover. We’ve got his back.”

» READ MORE: ‘It could have been much worse’: Sixers ‘relieved’ Kelly Oubre Jr. is recovering after being struck by car

On the floor, the Pacers entered Sunday using blazing pace to create the NBA’s most efficient offense, but were also one of the league’s worst defenses. Indiana initially could not handle the Sixers’ star duo of Maxey (who went 20-of-32 from the floor and also totaled seven rebounds, five assists and three blocks) and Embiid (37 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists), who combined for 51 first-half points.

But that full-throttle approach trimmed the Sixers’ 19-point second-quarter lead to 82-81, when Myles Turner hit a three-pointer with about seven minutes remaining in the third period. Indiana remained within striking distance — and then briefly took a 105-104 lead on an Aaron Nesmith finish early in the fourth quarter — before Harris answered with a putback layup and Patrick Beverley followed with a corner three-pointer.

The Sixers finally created separation for good when Maxey hit a step-back three-pointer and Danuel House Jr. followed with his own triple off an offensive rebound to take a 122-111 lead with about five minutes to play. Maxey then surpassed his previous career high of 44 points — coincidentally set against Nurse’s Toronto Raptors last October — when he picked up an air balled three-pointer by Beverley and laid the ball in with less than four minutes to play.

That was all part of a 16-point fourth-quarter for Maxey, who made seven of his 11 attempts from the field and both three-point tries in the period. He joined Hall of Famer Allen Iverson as Sixers who have scored at least 50 points in a game at age 23 or younger.

“It’s a lot more fun being on this side of it,” Nurse said after the game. " ... He just mixed in so much of what he does so well. I thought he blasted to the basket with speed a bunch of times, but then he did his step-back or separation for threes. Just a heavy dose of both.

“It’s obviously really hard to guard tonight, when he’s that fast one way and he’s so deadly a shooter the other direction. It’s kind of like, ‘Which one are you going to try to take away?’”

These two teams will square off again in South Philly on Tuesday, a matchup that will also serve as the Sixers’ second in-season tournament game, before a marquee rematch against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday.

Though the night ultimately belonged to Maxey, the game’s start belonged to Embiid.

The reigning NBA Most Valuable player scored 19 points in the first quarter, on 6-of-8 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. He racked up 14 of those in less than six minutes, mostly off of the two-man game with Maxey. He then reached 16 points by hitting a difficult turnaround jumper. And he got to 19 points from the free-throw line.

“Just wanted to be aggressive, set the tone and get us off to a good start,” Embiid said.

Then, it was Maxey’s turn to catch fire. He scored 11 points in less than three minutes to begin the second quarter, including a finish through contact for an old-fashioned three-point play and a deep pull-up three pointer.

The timing was reminiscent of the fourth quarter of last week’s signature win against the Celtics, when Maxey took over the scoring load when Embiid got his customary rest. And the burst arrived after some self-criticism from Maxey, after going 5-of-18 from deep range in his previous two games.

“It’s funny, I was telling my uncle, ‘Man, I can’t keep missing these open shots. I’m creating this space, and Joel has been getting me open, and guys are getting me open,’” Maxey said. “I’ve been doing everything else: trying to get downhill, pass, rebound, do all those different things. But I’ve been missing a lot of open threes, and tonight, they fell.”

Without Oubre, Nicolas Batum slid into the starting lineup. The veteran newcomer finished with nine points — including three deep shots that helped answer Pacers runs — and seven rebounds. Another primary responsibility was attempting to slow down All-Star Tyrese Haliburton, who ripped off 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting and added 17 assists.

Robert Covington, meanwhile, was one of the first Sixers off the bench, while Korkmaz and House also entered by the end of the first quarter and created some new lineup combinations. To begin the second quarter, for instance, Nurse used Maxey, Covington, House, Harris, and Paul Reed.

Nurse followed the same substitution pattern in the second half, with Covington entering about midway through the third quarter and Korkmaz and House following by the end of the frame. But Beverley replaced Covington in the lineup to start the fourth quarter, forming a grouping with Reed and House that Nurse liked because they “really put some toughness into the game and chased down a bunch of loose balls and made a bunch of plays.”

“That’s kind of what we would say those guys’ roles is,” Nurse said. “Go out there and just play really hard and come up with every 50/50 ball and get us a couple put-backs and guard really tough. They did a heck of a job together, that crew.”

Public-address announcer Matt Cord missed Sunday’s game, his first absence in 26 years, due to non-COVID medical issues, he said on X (formerly Twitter). Delaware Blue Coats public address announcer Rob Strauss filled the role.