Jaylen Brown scored 31 points, Tyrese Maxey chipped in 27, and LeBron James had 11 assists to lead the Sixers to a 131-124 win over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday. That win moves Philadelphia to 11-3 on the season, and LeBron’s final assist of the game pushed him into third on the NBA’s all-time assist list.

Here’s what I saw.

Two stars leading the way

Sometimes basketball analysis can be very simple: the Sixers had a halftime lead over Indiana because Jaylen Brown was on the floor and cooking. It started as a midrange clinic, with Brown shrugging off Pacers defenders in the mid-post for some beautiful turnarounds and short runners. Without Embiid to contend with for touches there, the Sixers were able to feed him early and often, which helped him carry a bit of momentum over to the perimeter, too.

Some of his best work was done when the Sixers were able to either generate a switch or simply take advantage of an early-offense mismatch. Ivica Zubac had the misfortune of being stuck on Brown for two different first-half possessions, and Brown dissected each with a different approach. When Zubac dropped too far against him, loading up for a drive, Brown pulled up for an easy pull-up three that Zubac couldn’t get close to. Later on, Zubac remembered that possession and tried to get out to him, with Brown using that to his advantage, driving past Zubac for two at the rim in a perfect read of his opponent:

Here’s the bad news — Brown was relegated to towel waiving for most of the third quarter after picking up his fourth foul. But this is where it helps to have another recent All-NBA player suiting up alongside him, and Tyrese Maxey more than did the job as Brown took a seat alongside Nick Nurse.

Maxey is one of the biggest beneficiaries of LeBron James’ presence, as the 41-year-old legend can absorb on-ball touches and find shooters wherever they are on the floor. That skill set helps Maxey shift his shot profile toward spot-up looks, where he is arguably at his most dangerous. Even though LeBron looked creaky as a scorer in the first half, his passing impact was felt almost immediately, with LeBron hitting a gorgeous mid-air pass to Maxey for a transition three in the first half, one of many plays where he looked the Pacers off before finding his open guy in acres of space:

That made jumper was just the start of a barrage from deep for Maxey, who got up double-digit threes for the first time all season. The early looks on catch-and-shoot jumpers eventually fed his pull-up jumper, with Maxey hitting some gorgeous crossover moves into pitter-patter footwork, Pacers defenders helpless while swiping at a basketball that was never out of Maxey’s control. Maxey was so good as a jump shooter that it helped wash away a pedestrian night around the rim, where he missed a few bunnies early in the game.

The Sixers got help from the supporting cast to get through those Brown-less minutes, too. It was a nightmare start for VJ Edgecombe across the board, but after battling through first-half foul trouble, he did a far better job picking his spots and getting to the paint in the second half, offering a dose of secondary creation for Nick Nurse’s group. LeBron’s scoring came around in a big way in the third quarter, with the NBA’s all-time leading scorer tossing in some heavily contested runners with Pacers players hanging all over him, rounding out his box score on a great playmaking day. With a dump-off pass to VJ Edgecombe late in the fourth, LeBron also managed to pass Jason Kidd for third on the all-time assist leaderboard, a remarkable achievement for the guy who is also the league’s all-time scoring leader.

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Backup center continues to be a sore spot for the group. Philadelphia has drowned on defense in almost every minute they’ve played without Joel Embiid on the floor, and the Pacers made sure to hit them where it hurts on Sunday, brutalizing the Sixers in the paint for the first 24 minutes as Philly tried to cobble together rim protection without any tall guys on the floor. Whether it was wings flying in for offensive rebounds, Zubac sealing forwards for deep touches, or drivers beating the Sixers’ point-of-attack defense and finding nothing but space in the paint, Indiana had a field day inside the arc in the first half.

Maybe Nurse thought it was the right time, or perhaps he just wanted to shut everyone up, but Nurse finally played Tacko Fall during meaningful minutes on Sunday, subbing him in midway through the third to huge cheers from the crowd. He was a Forrest Gump-level bystander for a LeBron flurry, fortunate to be in the right place at the right time, but there were at least a couple of plays where Fall’s size made a real difference. Obi Toppin nearly threw a runner attempt over the backboard entirely with Fall lurking near the rim, but a moment later he redeemed himself by leaving the slow-footed Fall stuck in mud with a drive to the basket for the hoop plus the harm.

As a group, they did a better job of navigating small ball as time wore on, and I think the combined intelligence of Wade/LeBron in the frontcourt can make up for a lot of the other issues that pop up. Wade popped up all over the place on defense, erasing multiple Pacers transition possessions with effort and timing. But it’s still far from perfect, and I continue to be on “sign another big on a two-way” island.

In any case, when it was time to close it out, the Sixers were able to put the ball right back in Brown’s capable hands, riding his isolation talent to a few tough buckets and free throws down the stretch. Save for the Boston game, which was a trainwreck of epic proportions for Brown, it has been a delight to watch him play over the last couple of weeks, the star wing seemingly taking a larger role with each passing game.

Other notes

— Defensively, it looks more and more like Jabari Walker isn’t cut out to play center, but he certainly looks like a certified rotation option. Walker’s energy is infectious when he’s on the floor, and he has helped himself a great deal by consistently hitting threes, punishing Ivica Zubac for slow closeouts on Sunday afternoon.

— There are signs that this group has figured out “vanilla” enough to begin iterating on their plays and usage of the full roster. Anfernee Simons has been relegated mostly to catch-and-shoot duty this season (for good reason), but the Sixers unleashed him more as a driver and inside-the-arc attacker on Sunday, with Simons scoring a couple of nice midrange buckets against Indiana. He has a much deeper skill set to tap into on offense, so it’s nice to see that showing up, even in small flashes.

— LeBron James is now third all-time in assists on top of being the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. What a player, what a career.