Instant observations: Sixers pick up win over Pacers to keep dream alive of avoiding play-in

Tyrese Maxey scored 32 points on 28 shots in a 105-94 Sixers victory over the Indiana Pacers, keeping the Sixers in the hunt for the No. 6 seed heading into the final game of the season.

Here’s what I saw.

A scare for Tyrese Maxey

We will all continue to monitor Tyrese Maxey’s hand far more than we should, because it’s hard to ignore how bad he has been as a three-point shooter since returning from injury. After a one-game outburst from deep in Houston, it was right back to the bricklaying business for Maxey on threes, and he missed some of them badly for a guy who has been one of the league’s best high-volume snipers. On one first-half stepback jumper, Maxey missed the rim altogether, drawing an immediate “I don’t have any inside information, but he doesn’t look right” soliloquy from announcer Kate Scott. Always a good sign.

Frankly, Maxey was fortunate he was able to put together as efficient a game as he did, gifted one of his makes when Jay Huff goaltended a putback attempt that looked like it would bounce harmlessly off the front of the rim. That said, I give Maxey credit for the any-means-necessary nature of it all, with No. 0 drawing enough fouls to boost his night at the line in between the occasional off-glass finish, because losing this game simply was not an option. We can worry about whether it looks pretty at a later date, in games against stiffer competition. But a volume-scoring outing is what this moment required, and Maxey plowed forward through misses from all over the floor to lurch forward toward victory.

It looked like it may come crashing down in the third quarter, deep into a period that should have been a painless push toward a comfortable Sixers victory. With the Pacers still hanging around, Maxey took off for a loose ball on a missed Jay Huff three, extending his right arm and colliding with Huff in the process. At the very least, it immediately caused Maxey some discomfort, and he grimaced in pain and trotted to the sideline before hitting the locker room with trainer Kevin Johnson.

It was nothing more than basketball instinct, something you certainly can’t chide Maxey for. And Maxey did return to the floor for Philadelphia’s early in the fourth, looking displeased but not distraught, if we’re trying to read into body language. But with the Sixers unable to fall out of the play-in no matter what happens in their final two games, keeping Maxey’s hand relatively healthy was arguably priority No. 1 in this final two-game stretch. He’s a tough customer and kept hammering away inside the arc despite whatever pain he was dealing with, but this doesn’t feel sustainable as the physicality ramps up in the play-in and playoff games starting next week.

At least VJ looks good

The best thing you could say about this performance is that VJ Edgecombe was levels above anyone on the floor for Indiana as an athlete, and he leveraged that to great effect. He was all over the box score by halftime, chipping in 10 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals, and a block in just under 19 minutes. Whenever he hit the turbo button, the undermanned Pacers were helpless to stop him, and he had plenty of juice left on the second half of a back-to-back.

Tyrese Maxey said recently that he no longer considers Edgecombe a rookie with this many games under his belt, and I think you can feel that on a night like Friday. Unfazed by a lack of rest and aware of how badly they needed this one, Edgecombe took the fight to the Pacers early, testing their will to get back and defend against his early offense. Even when Indiana was able to get bodies in front of him and force a passing decision, Edgecombe did well to look for his shooters and share the wealth, another piece of evidence for the people who think he should be their nominal point guard moving forward.

I felt bad for Taelon Peter, who was just trying to make a positive impression with an end-of-season opportunity, as Edgecombe absolutely blew him away as an athlete. Edgecombe climbed the ladder for a hellacious block on one end in the first half, later going through Peter with a power move for an easy two points at the rim. While Edgecombe hasn’t yet developed the grown-man strength that will put him at the line more and allow him to reliably finish in the paint, you can see him taking better advantage of his gifts to separate, get to spots, and buoy the offense as a scorer.

With the Sixers still dealing with the fallout of Embiid’s latest health challenge, it helps to have a rookie leader whose default setting is playing 100 miles per hour. Carrying the same competitive spirit he used to lead a comeback against Houston, Edgecombe was the standard setter for his veteran teammates, who had a more relaxed approach early in this one.

Get well soon, Embiid

It is hard to overstate just how bad Adem Bona looked in this game and how unreliable he has been in recent weeks. Coming into the final months of the season, Nick Nurse gave him every chance to take the primary job behind Embiid, and Bona appeared to be growing in stature as an offensive player while cutting back on his worst habits on defense. But he has been a total mess over the past couple of weeks, to the point that Andre Drummond may be back in the lead for the starting gig in meaningful games.

I don’t think that says a whole lot about Drummond, honestly, but the veteran backup did have a good rebounding game against the Pacers’ frontcourt, and it may be as simple as his size and one definable skill being a better fit for this group’s needs. If anything, I think watching these two has me considering whether the Sixers should draft a center with the Rockets pick in this draft.

Other notes

— Even in a fairly uneventful win, the Sixers still managed to make this one closer than it should have been. Talent-strapped as the Pacers are, they have a coherent identity and sought high-value shots all over the floor, no matter who was taking them. Add on that they have a pair of bigs who can knock down threes, and Philadelphia’s defensive approach was called into question once again. Are you sure you want to continue helping away from Micah Potter in the corner or a trail spot? The results didn’t support that decision, I can tell you that.

Truthfully, it felt like a game that the Pacers gave away rather than one the Sixers took. With slightly better shotmaking on the barrage of open threes they created, Indiana might have handed Philly their most embarrassing defeat of the season.

— Paul George did almost nothing for two straight quarters of this game, but credit to him for stepping up on offense in the latter stages of this game, starting with a third quarter that turned into a series of contested jumpers to keep the Pacers from completing the comeback. We love some timely scoring.