Tyrese Maxey leads Sixers to crucial win against Pacers, 105-94

The Philadelphia 76ers held off the Indiana Pacers Friday night, but their offensive struggles remained front and center despite a win they desperately needed. Tyrese Maxey led the way with 32 points while veteran center Andre Drummond provided a major boost off the bench.

Here’s what stood out.

Sixers win despite continued shooting struggles

The Sixers found a way to win, but struggled mightily to shoot the ball. Finishing the night 42-of-104 from the field and just 5-29 from three, the Sixers failed to create open shots and knock down the few that they came across.

That’s been a consistent issue for the Sixers this season, who came into the game as a bottom-10 team in the league in shooting from the field and from three. Clearly, the team is missing the gravity that Joel Embiid creates; that’s understandable. The issue is that they have no counterpunch in shot creation. The Sixers are slow and uncoordinated in the half-court, which is why they relied so much on Tyrese Maxey iso-ball without Embiid.

That type of reliance can lead to overuse of a player, as has already been seen throughout this season and was almost seen once again in this matchup. More on that in a moment.

Thinking about the core competencies of basketball, one would think of shooting, passing, rebounding and perhaps defense. The Sixers have struggled in all of these areas throughout the season, yet they secured their 44th win in this game. 

The win is ultimately what matters, but a relatively close win against one of the league's worst teams is not particularly reassuring. The team has done as well as they have by taking care of business against teams who are often considered inferior. Philadelphia has a record of 26-4 against teams with a record below .500. Against teams with a record above .500, they are 18-33. They will finish the season as the only team in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt with fewer than 20 wins against teams with a record above .500.

But, as they say, a win is a win.

Not again…

Tyrese Maxey collided with Pacers center Jay Huff late in the third quarter and was seen toying with and flexing his right hand in the immediate aftermath. He would soon head to the bench and then the locker room, returning to the bench to begin the fourth quarter. Maxey had handled the bulk of the baggage offensively for the Sixers as a shooter and playmaker throughout the night. That’s not out of the ordinary, especially with Embiid sidelined, but there needs to be a more cohesive offense scheme for the sake of the entire team.

The Sixers’ offensive scheme is far too vanilla, and that’s due to a number of factors, but ultimately falls on head coach Nick Nurse. It’s far too late in the season to introduce yet another offensive scheme, but come next season, no matter who is calling the shots, the Sixers need to be more creative and fluid offensively.

Other takeaways

• Paul George was certainly better in this matchup than he was Thursday night in Houston, and he wasn’t afraid to attack the paint, which is noteworthy. Paul scored 21 points on 9-of-19 shooting. Still, the level of impact George provided in the absence of Embiid was not quite there. The Sixers played a fair amount of Tyrese Maxey iso-ball in this game, and it worked against these Pacers. Against more challenging opponents, like those the Sixers will see in the postseason, George will have to be more aggressive with the ball in his hands and more purposeful with his shot selection.
• After a strong stretch of play, Adem Bona has failed to seize the opportunity created by Embiid’s most recent absence. Struggling mightily not only in this game, but also in the Sixers’ Thursday night matchup in Houston. Meanwhile, Andre Drummond’s play has impressed as he prepares to hit the free agent market. The need isn’t for Bona to out-play Drummond, but he certainly has to improve to give the Sixers even a puncher's chance, as they will only face more difficult competition from now until their postseason ends.
• With this game, the Sixers secured a top-eight seed in the East heading into the play-in tournament. That does not mean they are guaranteed a spot in the NBA Playoffs, but they will get a second opportunity to make the postseason if they need it, worst-case scenario.

Up next for the Sixers

The Sixers will head home for their final regular-season game, a matchup against Doc Rivers and the Milwaukee Bucks.

Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Sunday night.

Unless otherwise stated, all stats included in this article are via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass, Basketball Reference or Team Rankings. All salary information via Spotrac.

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