Tyrese Maxey scored 32 points, Andre Drummond posted a double-double off the bench, and the Philadelphia 76ers assured themselves of finishing no worse than eighth in the Eastern Conference after beating the Indiana Pacers 105-94 in Indianapolis on Friday.
The 76ers (44-37) were helped when the Detroit Pistons posted a 118-100 win over the Charlotte Hornets (43-38). Philadelphia, which finishes the regular season against the visiting Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday, is one game back of both the Toronto Raptors (45-36) and the Orlando Magic (45-36) in the chase for the East’s sixth and final automatic playoff berth.
Philadelphia holds the tiebreaker edge on Charlotte, Toronto and Orlando.
The 76ers closed out a three-game road swing with the second leg of a back-to-back, playing without Joel Embiid after the former Most Valuable Player suffered appendicitis on Thursday. With their star center unavailable, the Sixers turned to the veteran Drummond to pick up some of the slack on the interior.
He answered with 10 points and 16 rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive glass.
Drummond led a contingent of six 76ers to grab at least five rebounds, a byproduct of shooting struggles for both offenses.
The Sixers went just 42-for-104 (40.4%) from the floor, including a dismal 5-for-29 (17.2%) from beyond the 3-point arc. Despite his game high in scoring, Maxey made just 1 of 10 from long range, setting the tone for Philadelphia’s outside shooting slump.
Indiana (19-62) did not fare much better. Though the Pacers connected on 14 3-pointers, they attempted 50 from long distance (28%). Indiana went just 33 of 88 (37.5%) from the floor overall and committed 21 turnovers that the Sixers cashed in for 18 points.
Kelly Oubre Jr., who also finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, led the Philadelphia defense with four steals. Rookie VJ Edgecombe continued his strong finish to the season with three steals to go with nine rebounds, five assists and 16 points.
Edgecombe, March’s NBA Rookie of the Month, came away with all three of his steals in the first half. The last led to a transition alley-oop from Justin Edwards for a slam, capping a 14-1 Sixers run spanning the end of the first and beginning of the second quarters.
That early burst gave Philadelphia a lead it held the rest of the way, though Indiana remained in striking distance throughout the second half.
Jarace Walker’s 17 points led the Pacers. Micah Potter finished with a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double and Jay Huff grabbed another 10 boards to go with his eight points off the bench.
Quenton Jackson scored 16 points and Ethan Thompson added 15 to round out Indiana’s double-figure point scorers. Obi Toppin, coming off a season-high 26 points in a Thursday win over Brooklyn, was limited to seven points in less than 20 minutes played on Friday.
–Field Level Media
