Four observations: Pacers rally from 19 back but Philly's Tyrese Maxey scores 50 for win

PHILADELPHIA -- The Pacers rallied back from a 19-point deficit to take a second-half lead but still fell 137-126 to the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday evening at the Wells Fargo Center with Philly guard Tyrese Maxey scoring 50 points.

The Pacers fell to 6-4. The first-place 76ers improved to 8-1.

Here are four observations.

The Pacers couldn't stop Joel Embiid

They had to deal with an MVP in the frontcourt for the second straight game and they didn't have any easier time slowing this one down. After surviving Giannis Antetokounmpo's 54-point outburst Thursday against the Bucks, the Pacers took a beating inside from Sixers big man Joel Embiid on Sunday.

The reigning MVP went to work early with 19 first-quarter points on 6 of 8 shooting from the field and 7 of 8 from the line. The Pacers had defensive ace Myles Turner on the assignment, but even he is dealing with a size disadvantage against the 7-foot, 280-pound Embiid. Embiid added seven more points in 5:20 of action in the second quarter to post 26 at the break.

He slowed down some in the second half but still finished with 37 points on 12 of 26 shooting to go with 13 rebounds and seven assists.

They couldn't stop Tyrese Maxey either

The Pacers beat the Bucks on Thursday in part because, even though they had to deal with Antetokounmpo, they didn't have to deal with his All-NBA point guard running mate, as Damian Lillard was out with a sore right calf.

They had no such luck Sunday, as Tyrese Maxey continued to make a case to earn his first All-Star berth this year. Maxey entered Sunday's game averaging 25.9 points per game and he nearly eclipsed that by halftime with 25 points on 10 of 16 shooting, knocking down 4 of 7 3-pointers. He was dynamite in pick-and-roll actions when on the floor with Embiid, but even when Embiid wasn't on the floor he was tough to contain as a pick-and-roll ball-handler or in isolation situations. When the Pacers committed to make sure he couldn't beat them off the dribble, he simply shot over them and made enough outside shots to be a problem.

And in the second half when Embiid quieted down some, Maxey added another 25 points for an even 50 on 20 of 32 shooting including 7 of 11 from beyond the arc. He added five assists and seven rebounds.

"He gets better each year," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "He's added range to his game. The step-back shot is now a big part of his arsenal. He hit 3 or 4 of those. Those are just tremendous one-on-one plays. We gotta do some things to get him out of such an easy rhythm to start the game."

Carlisle and the Pacers have always expressed respect for Maxey in the past, and they're even more impressed now. Maxey has had to take over the offense since the Sixers traded James Harden to the Clippers, and he appears to have taken them up a notch.

"He's about as big-time as it gets," Pacers guard T.J. McConnell said. "Good kid. His skill level is remarkable. The jump he's made year after year and the growth he's made. James leaving and now they give him the ball and giving him freedom to show what he can do and he's not disappointing. He's a great, great guard."

The Pacers' offense erased a huge deficit

The Pacers struggled to get stops on defense from the beginning Sunday and fell behind by as many as 19 points in the second half, but yet again they showed off an offense explosive enough to run step-for-step with even elite Eastern Conference foes.

After a quiet first quarter by their standards in which they fell behind 38-27, the Pacers posted 1.32 points per possession in the second quarter and 1.51 in the third quarter, shooting 14 of 23 from the field and 7 of 13 from 3 in that period to enter the fourth quarter trailing by just one point. They took a fourth-quarter lead, going up 105-104 with 10:45 to play but the Sixers offense and rebounding was too much down the stretch, outscoring Indiana 33-21 the rest of the way.

As usual, All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton led the charge with 25 points on 9 of 14 shooting and 17 assists. Turner made up for a brutal night on the defensive end with 22 points on 7 of 17 shooting. Forward Obi Toppin added 14 points on 6 of 7 shooting and Buddy Hield busted out of a shooting funk with 16 points, hitting four 3-pointers. The Pacers shot 52.2% from the floor and 16 of 39 from 3-point range and finished with 1.25 points per possession in defeat.

"We knew we weren't out of it," Haliburton said. "We just had to regroup. We know we had to get stops so we could get out in transition. Nobody wants to deal with us in transition. We're the best team in the league in transition. ... I feel like the way we play, the ball's gonna hop. It's going to move around. Guys are going to get the shots they want. That's just the way we play. We just know, play Pacer basketball no matter what. No matter what the score or time is, just be us."

Sixers second-chance points were killer

The Pacers generally did a good job of containing players who weren't named Maxey or Embiid, but they had a major problem keeping Philadelphia off the offensive glass, and that turned out to be decisive.

The Sixers won 54-32 on the glass with 23 offensive rebounds to the Pacers' eight and finished with 30 second-chance points to the Pacers' 10. Of those 30, 23 came in the second half and 15 came in the fourth quarter. The Sixers grabbed nine offensive rebounds in the fourth to the Pacers' four defensive rebounds, so they grabbed 69.2% of their misses, extending possessions more often than the Pacers were getting stops. That's a big part of the reason why Philadelphia posted a gaudy 1.63 points per possession in the fourth.

"It's clearly the major factor in the game other than that those two guys (Maxey and Embiid) are great players and they had big nights," Carlisle said. "... There were some that were particularly untimely. We got to eliminate them."

Embiid was a big part of the issue himself as he grabbed eight offensive rebounds, but Tobias Harris added four including three in the fourth quarter. The Pacers shot better from the floor (52.2% to 50.5%) than the Sixers. They made two more 3-pointers and just one fewer free throw, but the Sixers got 15 more field goal attempts than the Pacers did (105-90) and made six more (53-47) and that turned out to be the difference.

"When you're dealing with a dynamic guard like Tyrese Maxey and an MVP-caliber player in Joel, the small stuff is what hurts you," McConnell said. "You gotta limit them to one shot. The extra shots that they got on rebounding and 50-50 balls in the first half, that stuff adds up."

Philadelphia 137, Indiana 126

INDIANA (126)

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 (137)

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)

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers vs. Sixers: Tyrese Maxey scores 50 in Sixers' win