Sixers storm back from 20 down to stun Pacers

The Sixers finally won a game without Joel Embiid, and what a win it was.

The 3-time All-Star big man was held out of Sunday night’s game in Indiana with back tightness, but the Sixers managed to find a way to defeat the Pacers 119-110 in a thrilling comeback victory. At 15-6, Philadelphia is now 2.5 games clear of the Brooklyn Nets for pole position in the Eastern Conference.

The Sixers received contributions from up and down the lineup in this one. Doc Rivers rolled with a ten man rotation and eight of them scored at least 8 points. Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris both signed max deals to take over games when the star center sits, and they answered the bell in this one. Harris continued what is shaping up to be a career year with a season-high 27 points, including ten in a brilliant fourth quarter. Simmons produced a well-rounded 21 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and was typically stellar defensively with four steals and two blocks.

They received plenty of support from a second unit that outscored Indiana’s 54-37. Furkan Korkmaz had easily his best game of the season, pouring in 17 on 6-of-12 shooting, burying 3-of-5 from deep. He also finished a team-best +26. Dwight Howard, who came off the pine despite Embiid’s absence—Tony Bradley started for the first time this season—had a strong 25-minute performance, scoring 11 and grabbing 15 rebounds. He struggled at the free throw line (5-of-12), but was effective on the inside all night long, generally being a physical, active presence. Matisse Thybulle made several sparkling defensive plays down the stretch, collecting four more steals and blocking two more shots. On the year, the 6’5” guard is now averaging 1.6 and 0.8, respectively, in just 16.1 minutes per game.

Crucially, the Sixers found away to win the battle on the glass 44-41 in the face of the Pacers’ big-man tandem of Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner, who together average almost 19 rebounds a game. Philadelphia also forced 17 Indiana turnovers against just 12 of its own.

Missing wing TJ Warren and new acquisition Caris LeVert, the Pacers still proved to be a formidable, well-coached foe. Leading scorers Malcolm Brogdon and Sabonis combined for 46 points, and Aaron Holiday added 17 off the bench. Former Sixer TJ McConnell scored 9 and handed out 8 assists. First-year head coach Nate Bjorkgren clearly understands how to maximize his personnel.

And for almost 40 minutes, it seemed like their team effort would be enough.

After the Sixers raced out to an 8-0 lead in the opening minutes, the Pacers found their rhythm. A 17-4 run seemed to give them a momentum they refused to relinquish, and by the end of the first quarter, Indiana had a double-digit advantage, 28-18. Brogdon spearheaded the aggressive attack with 12 points in the period, and the tone was seemingly set.

The bulk of the second was a tug of war, with the Sixers making small gains only to watch the Pacers respond in kind. With just over two minutes remaining, they extended the lead to 16 and threatened to run away with the game, but Harris and Simmons refused to let that happen. The duo combined for 9 late points, cutting the halftime deficit to 63-54.

The third quarter saw Sabonis maul the Sixers’ thin interior, bruising his was to 12 points. The Sixers did their best to hang tough in the early going, but the Pacers kept them at arm’s length. After an 11-3 burst widened the gap to 18, Philadelphia again scratched and clawed and did its best to stop the bleeding. But the Pacers had other plans, charging ahead 95-75 late in the period. It seemed to be all but over. Seven unanswered brought the score closer, yet the Sixers still entered the final frame trailing by 13.

But Doc Rivers is a championship winning head coach, and he has seen his share of big leads dissipate in the blink of an eye. With the team now down 104-88 after a Holiday layup with 8:16 left to play, he unlocked a rare tool in the Sixers’ belt—zone defense. Indiana was baffled. Between Thybulle and Howard, and later Harris and Simmons, the Sixers threw so many long-limbed and athletic bodies around the court, they couldn’t get anything going. The Pacers offense was completely shut down, scoring just 15 points in the quarter on 29.4% shooting and turning it over 7 times. Thybulle in particular became a human cheat code, collecting all of his blocks and steals in the single quarter.

As is so often said, defense fuels offense, and the Sixers took that to heart. After the switch to zone, Philadelphia rampaged the rest of the way, ending the game on a stunning 31-6 run. Harris and Korkmaz put on a midrange clinic, drilling an array of pullup jumpers to ice the game.

The Sixers finally get their first scheduled two-day break of the season and won’t play again until Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Charlotte. Embiid figures to be available to play.

The Sixers swept a miniseries against the Hornets in Philadelphia earlier in the year, taking both games by an average of 16 points.