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Game Rewind: Pacers 96, 76ers 120

Game Recap

The Indiana Pacers had an opportunity to make a statement on Thursday night. They were playing on national television with Pacers legend Reggie Miller in the building and hosting a heralded Philadelphia 76ers team chasing them in the Eastern Conference standings.

Things didn't go as planned for the Pacers on Thursday, however. Philadelphia (30-16) made 18 3-pointers and had three players surpass the 20-point plateau in a 120-96 victory over Indiana (29-15) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

With the win, Philadelphia tied the Pacers for third place in the Eastern Conference standings, though the Pacers remain a game ahead in the loss column. More importantly, though, the Sixers took a 2-1 lead in the regular season series with Indiana and host the remaining game on March 10, giving them a leg up in a potential head-to-head tiebreaker scenario.

Jimmy Butler led Philadelphia with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting, five rebounds, and eight assists in the victory. Joel Embiid added 20 points, 13 boards, and eight assists, while JJ Redick added 20 points while going 6-for-9 from 3-point range and dished out five assists.

Thaddeus Young led the Pacers with 27 points in the loss on 11-of-17 shooting. All-Star guard Victor Oladipo joined him in double figures with 15 points and seven assists, but struggled with his shot, converting just 6-of-20 shots.

"They kicked our (butt)," Oladipo said. "There's no other way around it. They just kicked our (butt) every which way from start to finish."

The Pacers took an early 7-0 lead, holding Philadelphia scoreless on seven straight possessions to open the game. The Sixers eventually found their stroke, however, taking their first lead on Landry Shamet's 3-pointer 7:44 into the game.

Myles Turner had a strong first quarter, scoring six points and pulling down eight rebounds, but Indiana shot just 34.6 percent in the opening frame and trailed 28-25 heading into the second.

Tyreke Evans provided a nice spark off the bench for the Blue & Gold in the second quarter, scoring nine points in eight minutes off the bench.

But it was the Sixers who took a 54-48 lead into the break, thanks to nine 3-pointers in the opening half, including a triple by Redick with 4.3 seconds left in the half.

Philadelphia reeled off eight unanswered points — bookended by two Redick three's with an Embiid layup sandwiched in between — to make it a 66-55 game under four minutes into the third quarter.

Embiid and Butler helped the visitors maintain their lead before Redick tossed in an off-balanced three with 33.3 seconds left in the frame and then T.J. McConnell converted a running layup with 3.5 seconds left to give the Sixers an 86-71 advantage heading into the fourth.

"(Redick) definitely suits them very well," Oladipo said. "They do a great job of screening and getting him open."

Philadelphia extended its lead to 18 points early in the fourth quarter. The Pacers responded by reeling off 10 unanswered points to make it an eight-point game with eight minutes remaining, but Embiid and Mike Muscala made 3-pointers on the next two Sixers possessions to quiet the home crowd and essentially put the game away.

"Our defense was trash," Young said. "We didn't get any stops when we needed to and we didn't do anything very well."

Evans was the third and final Pacers player in double figures, finishing with 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Turner made just one field goal on five attempts, but did manage to tally eight points, 12 rebounds, three blocks, and three steals.

Ben Simmons flirted with a triple-double for Philadelphia, finishing with 11 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists in a supporting role.

The loss resonated in the Pacers locker room, particularly because it came on a national stage.

"I think we wanted it really bad," Oladipo said. "We might have wanted it too much."

Indiana continues a five-game homestand by hosting the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night at 7:00 PM ET, then welcomes the Charlotte Hornets on the second half of a back-to-back on Sunday evening at 6:00 PM ET.

Thaddeus Young, Ben Simmons

Photo Credit: NBAE/Getty Images

Inside the Numbers

Young's 27 points were his most in three seasons with the Pacers and his most in a game since he scored 29 for Brooklyn in a loss to Dallas on Dec. 23, 2015.

Philadelphia shot 52.9 percent from the field in the win, the highest percentage by a Pacers opponent at Bankers Life Fieldhouse this season.

Oladipo has now scored less than 20 points in six straight games. His longest streak without reaching 20 points last season was three games.

The Sixers had 38 assists on 46 field goals on Thursday, five more than the previous high for assists this season by a Pacers opponent.

Embiid recorded his NBA-leading 38th double-double of the season in the win for Philadelphia.

You Can Quote Me On That

"We didn't make shots early and we took that to the defensive end of the floor. You're going to have nights when shots don't fall and your defense has got to hold until those shots fall. Tonight, we just gave in defensively." -Pacers head coach Nate McMillan

"From start to finish, they ran their stuff, they executed, they screened, they passed and they scored. Their big dogs were big today. We didn't have a good game. Obviously it's just one game but it should be a wakeup call for us, by helping us realize that we have to be better." -Oladipo

"I thought we didn't take advantage of those opportunities we had. I feel like we would do a good job on defense and then not making shots led to easy fast break points. It was just a lot of that tonight." -Pacers center Domantas Sabonis

"38 of our 46 made baskets were assisted, and that is a statement that we are proud of. You guard, you share... and it set the table for a good night." -76ers head coach Brett Brown

"We were locked in, especially toward the end of the third quarter. Everybody stuck to the concepts. I feel it’s a matter of us trying and when we do try, we are actually really good at it." -Embiid

Stat of the Night

Philadelphia made twice as many 3-pointers as Indiana, outscoring the Pacers by 27 points from beyond the arc. The Sixers went 18-for-34 from long range (52.9 percent) on Thursday night, while the Blue & Gold went 9-for-29 (31 percent).

Noteworthy

  • Philadelphia has now won both road games at Indiana this season, the first time that has happened since the 2004-05 campaign.
  • Embiid (back stiffness) and Wilson Chandler (upper respiratory infections) were both game-time decisions for the Sixers, but both played.
  • Hall of Famer Reggie Miller returned to The Fieldhouse as part of the TNT broadcast team.

Up Next

The Pacers continue their five-game homestand by hosting Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, Jan. 19 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets »

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