PHILADELPHIA (AP) — 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 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.
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The team will meet again Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center in the NBA In-Season Tournament. They each won their tournament openers.
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