PHILADELPHIA — Tyrese Maxey scored a career-high 50 points, Joel Embiid had 37 points and the Philadelphia 76ers improved to 8-1 with their eighth straight victory, beating the Indiana Pacers 137-126 on Sunday night.
Maxey was 20 for 32 from the field and had seven rebounds, five assists and three blocks in the first of two straight games in Philadelphia between the teams. His previous high was 44 against Toronto on Oct. 28, 2022.
Embiid had 13 rebounds in 33 minutes. The 76ers are now off to their best nine-game start since opening 10-0 in 2000-01 en route to the NBA Finals.
Philadelphia played without Kelly Oubre Jr. after he broke a rib when hit by a car in a hit-and-run incident on a Center City Philadelphia street Saturday night,
Tyrese Haliburton led Indiana with 25 points and Myles Turner had 22. The Pacers had won three a row.
After trailing by 19 in the first half, Indiana took its first lead at 105-104 early in the fourth quarter on Aaron Nesmith's jumper in the paint. The 76ers pulled away with an 18-6 run, capped by Maxey' putback of a Patrick Beverley's errant shot.
Maxey entered the game averaging 25.6 points in a new role as the floor leader in the wake of the trade of James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers.
UP NEXT
The team will meet again Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center in the NBA In-Season Tournament. They each won their tournament openers.
Philadelphia 137, Indiana 126
Indiana 27 33 39 27—126
Philadelphia 38 31 31 37—137
INDIANA — Mathurin 4-11 1-3 9, Toppin 6-7 0-0 14, Turner 7-17 4-4 22, B.Brown 3-5 3-4 9, Haliburton 9-14 4-4 25, J.Smith 4-7 2-2 11, Nembhard 2-4 0-0 4, Nesmith 3-6 0-0 8, Hield 6-13 0-0 16, McConnell 3-6 2-2 8. Totals: 47-90 16-19 126.
PHILADELPHIA — Batum 3-5 0-0 9, Harris 9-20 0-0 18, Embiid 12-26 12-14 37, Maxey 20-32 3-3 50, Melton 4-7 1-1 10, Covington 1-5 0-0 2, Reed 2-4 0-0 4, Korkmaz 0-1 0-0 0, House Jr. 1-1 1-2 4, Beverley 1-4 0-0 3. Totals: 53-105 17-20 137.
3-Point Goals—Indiana 16-39 (Hield 4-8, Turner 4-9, Haliburton 3-6, Toppin 2-3, Nesmith 2-5, J.Smith 1-2, B.Brown 0-1, Nembhard 0-2, Mathurin 0-3), Philadelphia 14-33 (Maxey 7-11, Batum 3-5, House Jr. 1-1, Melton 1-3, Beverley 1-4, Embiid 1-4, Covington 0-2, Harris 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Indiana 32 (J.Smith 6), Philadelphia 54 (Embiid 13). Assists_Indiana 31 (Haliburton 17), Philadelphia 28 (Embiid 7). Total Fouls—Indiana 14, Philadelphia 15. A—19,758 (20,478).
