Tyrese Maxey, Sixers discuss what went wrong in road loss to Pacers

[76ers Since 74]

The Philadelphia 76ers began a grueling 5-game road trip with a 134-122 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday. It was a tough night for the undermanned Sixers who were down Tobias Harris, De’Anthony Melton, Marcus Morris Sr., Robert Covington, and Mo Bamba. The Sixers shot just 7-for-29 from deep compared to 12-for-28 for Indiana and were out-rebounded 55-31 on the night. Philadelphia just couldn’t find any type of rhythm and their effort and energy weren’t there throughout the night. Joel Embiid led the Sixers with 31 points and seven rebounds and Tyrese Maxey had 22 points. The Sixers were only down 12 at the half despite giving up 73 points and shooting just 2-for-11 from deep, but it was the third quarter when the wheels really fell off as the Pacers opened the half on a 10-0 run to open up an 83-61 lead. “We kind of weathered the storm in that first half, and then they hit us again in the second half and coach said he didn’t like how—he felt like we kind of gave in or conceded defeat, but we got to do better with that,” Maxey told reporters after the loss. “That’s a team that’s a difficult team to play. They play fast, they execute on your mistakes, and then get out and run.” It just seemed like the Sixers didn’t have their legs in this one. Philadelphia had a tough time really getting into any type of rhythm and had issues on the defensive end which led to Indiana getting out and running. “You go through this sometimes,” added coach Nick Nurse. “Both Pat Bev and Nico (Batum) coming back off illness as well—give them credit for going out there and and trying to do what they can. but I still think you got to play a little better and guard a little better. We just didn’t. We just didn’t have any kind of defensive success, right?” Either way, the Sixers felt like they were in an uphill battle all night long. They got off to a slow start and the Pacers essentially just ran away with it. Even with the run to start the second half. “It was just we were chasing the game right from the start, right?” Nurse added. “I don’t know what it started, but it was a pretty big number right at the start and we were just kind of chasing it defensively the whole night. I actually thought we played bad in the first half, but I was still like ‘12 is a manageable number’.” Nurse isn’t wrong. Maxey, Embiid, and the Sixers were right there, but they just weren’t able to get over that hump. “I think you’re gonna play have some bad quarters and bad halves and to try to snap back into some more energy and more connectivity and stuff and then we just like 9-0 run to start the half,” Nurse finished. “That was pretty telling of us not being able to grasp any energy together tonight.” Player grades: Joel Embiid, Sixers come up short vs. Pacers to begin tripSixers big man Joel Embiid named a starter for 2024 All-Star gameSixers to be without Tobias Harris, Marcus Morris Sr. vs. Pacers
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Source: https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/2024/01 ... to-pacers/