After opening their season with a frustrating pair of losses, the short-handed Sixers — who continue to await the season debuts of Joel Embiid and Paul George ‚ headed to Indiana for a Sunday afternoon battle against the Pacers.
The Sixers got off to another rough start, but did not allow their struggles to persist for too long thanks to some strong contributions from bench pieces. Things buffered for them in the middle portion of the game, but Maxey finally broke out of his brutal struggles with a lengthy heater that put the Sixers right back in the thick of it. This one turned into a nail-biter, and after an unbelievable amount of twists and turns, the Sixers completed the game with more points than their opponent. That means they won, right?
Here is what stood out from the Sixers' 118-114 victory in Indianapolis on Sunday:
Sixers suffer another slow offensive start
It's a good thing the Sixers were able to hold the line defensively in the opening minutes of the game — with some help in the form of uncalled fouls — because their offense continued to sputter. The Sixers only scored three baskets in the first six minutes of action — two driving layups from Caleb Martin and a spot-up three from Kyle Lowry.
The struggling Maxey committed two turnovers during that period without making a basket — his lone point during the stretch came on a technical free throw after Martin got away with a swipe to the face of Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers' All-Star point guard could not contain his frustration.
The Sixers were in desperate need of a strong stretch in the back half of the opening frame from their second unit. And...
Eric Gordon, KJ Martin and Guerschon Yabusele come through
The final six minutes of the first quarter represented the best basketball the Sixers had played up to that point, and Gordon, whose struggles in the team's first two games were noteworthy, got it started. The veteran sharpshooter knocked down a long three, found a cutting Kelly Oubre Jr. for an and-one and converted a layup on a beautiful give-and-go with KJ Martin all in one fell swoop. Gordon experienced another quick heater in the middle of the second quarter, breaking down Indiana center Isaiah Jackson for an isolation bucket and then knocking down a long spot-up three in transition:
The Sixers' team motto during training camp was "The Ball Wins," emphasizing the importance of winning the possession battle. The Sixers pulled five offensive rebounds in the opening frame, with KJ Martin and Yabusele each nabbing a pair of them.
KJ Martin had his strongest stint of the season to date, adding five points, an assist and a steal to his two offensive boards. Yabusele found him cutting and made a strong pass for a dunk, but KJ Martin's landing was ugly. It took him a moment to get up — the Sixers allowed a wide-open triple playing four-on-five, and the fifth-year player appeared to be struggling to move at his typical speed. He seemed to shake it off, though, never being removed from the action because of the fall.
Yabusele, meanwhile, made his most impressive play of the season to date, crashing from well beyond the three-point line to recover a possession with an offensive rebound, and immediately finding Maxey for a corner triple that the All-Star point guard needed to see go down.
Jared McCain impresses as part of rotation
McCain received his first first-quarter minutes of his NBA career, and looked like he belonged. The rookie guard ended up logging nearly eight consecutive minutes and had a few standout plays: he snuck into the paint for an offensive rebound and ensuing layup, and a moment later he froze old friend and ace defender T.J. McConnell on a drive for another bucket at the rim:
McCain looked extremely comfortable on the floor, and he generated enough comfort on the part of Sixers head coach Nick Nurse to send the Duke product back onto the floor later in the second quarter. Indiana uses plenty of lineups with two small guards and a wing on the smaller side; Nurse countered by putting McCain and Gordon on the floor at the same time. If the other team is going small, Nurse decided, he might as well do the same and surround Maxey with a pair of outstanding three-point shooters.
Maxey forces the issue and fails to protect the ball
Maxey committed two more turnovers in the second quarter, bringing his total to four before intermission. Maxey averaged 1.7 turnovers per game in 2023-24, and maintaining ball security is probably the only thing he did well during his first two games in 2024-25, only committing two turnovers across the Sixers' losses to the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors.
The only way to say it is that Maxey looks out of sorts right now. He is missing shots — at the rim, from beyond the arc and everywhere in between — that are usually automatic or something close to it for him. He looks like someone who is pressing. Even his defensive decision-making has been a bit suspect.
I started this weekend doing what every person dreams of: rewatching every shot attempt Maxey took during those two disastrous games. Here is what I found and what I took away from that.
Pacers make strong push to close first half
Gordon's aforementioned deep triple gave the Sixers a five-point lead halfway through the second quarter. Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle decided to talk things over with his group, and things immediately shifted on both ends of the floor:
Indiana is a team rich with quality three-point shooters that had struggled mightily to knock down shots during their first two games of the season. They broke the seal after Carlisle's impactful timeout, knocking down four triples over a six-minute span to close the half.
After a 35-24 second quarter in Indiana's favor, the Sixers went to their locker room at intermission facing a 58-52 deficit.
Maxey finally breaks through after struggles reach a breaking point
In the first half of the third quarter, Maxey's issues only escalated. On two different occasions, he missed multiple three-point attempts on the same possession. He forced more tough looks and even missed free throws.
As Drummond helped power the Sixers back into the game, Maxey was able to knot the score at 68 with a left-handed layup. When Indiana called timeout, Maxey let loose. "COME ON," he yelled repeatedly (with a few four-letter words mixed in). Out of the timeout, he converted a running layup as he fell to the ground and smacked the stanchion in excitement. Maxey skied for a defensive rebound after a Pacers miss, and it could not have been more obvious that he was ready to fire a heat-check three.
As soon as he got the switch against Indiana center Myles Turner, he launched, connected and showed even more emotion:
Maxey checked out for his customary rest late in the third quarter, but returned to the floor as an offensive substitution. He got the ball in the middle of the floor, going to the left, and gave the Sixers a one-point lead with a left-handed floater. It topped off a 14-point third quarter for a player who could not have needed a strong stretch more.
After remaining in the game to begin the final frame, Maxey stayed hot, scoring the Sixers' first five points of the quarter, including a step-back triple:
After Yabusele showed remarkable fight to outwork two Pacers for an offensive rebound, he found Maxey for another three, this one putting the Sixers ahead with eight minutes remaining.
Wild final moments of regulation lead to free basketball
Back and forth the Sixers and Pacers went the rest of the way, with both teams locked in and trying to shake the poor tastes in their mouths after suffering brutal losses on Friday night.
Nurse opted to close the game with Gordon on the floor over Lowry. This was easy too understand given the game Gordon was having, but it did force Caleb Martin into a secondary ball-handler role, and the sixth-year wing ended up initiating quite a few possessions. It is not a role that the Sixers want him to fill, and it is not one he will fill when George is on the floor.
The Pacers jumped back in front in the final minutes when Aaron Nesmith threw down a monster dunk over Oubre and converted and and-one at the free throw line:
Just when it felt like the Sixers were not going to be able to muster enough for one more comeback, they did just that thanks to tremendous hands from two veterans. First, Gordon stripped Haliburton, forcing a turnover and leading to a pair of free throws for Maxey. Then Drummond, who has remarkable hands for a center, poked the ball away from Andrew Nembhard, leading to a go-ahead transition layup for Caleb Martin.
Looking to get another stop, Drummond did it again — knocking the ball away from Haliburton, one of the game's most skilled offensive engines. Maxey knocked down two free throws, and the Pacers had one more chance to send the game to overtime with a three. Then, Haliburton did... this:
And so, an excellent basketball game had five extra minutes.
Sixers emerge victorious, as Maxey carries to finish line in OT
Maxey, who scored 14 points in the fourth quarter as well, kicked off overtime with a nasty pull-back three over Nembhard:
Myles Turner and Gordon traded two-pointers, but Haliburton came back and tied the game with another triple. A few misses ensued from Turner, Maxey and Nesmith, but Maxey collected his 39th and 40th points with a left-handed layup just inside of two minutes. With 20.7 seconds left and the Sixers leading by a point, Maxey turned the corner against a double-team from Haliburton and Pascal Siakam and put in a gorgeous left-handed floater to increase the lead to three.
Nembhard went for a quick two against Maxey, but the NBA's reigning Most Improved Player Award winner swatted the ball out of Nembhard's hand, off the Pacers guard's body and out of bounds. It appeared to be Maxey's third block of the night, but an Indiana challenge was successful, as the officials ruled Maxey fouled Nembhard, who was rewarded with two free throws. Nembhard missed the first shot, though, a huge break for the Sixers.
A free throw battle ensued, with the Sixers unable to land a knockout punch when Oubre and Maxey each split crucial pairs of free throws. The Pacers had one chance to score, down by two points, and Caleb Martin almost made the worst mistake imaginable. He fouled Haliburton intentionally, not realizing the Sixers only led by two points.
With a chance to tie the game at the line, though, Haliburton missed his first shot. He intentionally missed the second shot, but the Sixers grabbed the rebound. Maxey made two free throws, and one of the wildest games you will see reached its end.
The Sixers will not go 0-82 in 2024-25.
Up next: The Sixers will return home for a pair of games before embarking on a West Coast road trip. They will be back in action on Wednesday night when they face... Tobias Harris, Paul Reed and the Detroit Pistons.
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