The 76ers (22-14) bring a 10-game home winning streak into their next game Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers (21-17).
On Tuesday, five-time NBA All-Star Joel Embiid was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month for December.
The Tuesday evening injury report did not include any Sixers, but there were three Pacers listed: Chris Duarte (questionable - left ankle soreness), Kendall Brown (out - right tibia stress reaction), and Daniel Theis (out - right knee surgery).
It will be the second of four meetings between the two teams this season. The Sixers took the first, 120-106, back on Oct. 24. James Harden recorded a game-high 29 points with nine rebounds and a game-high 11 assists in that victory. Both Pacers home games in the series are scheduled for March.
Indiana enters round two having won each of their last four games, all at home.
Third-year Pacer Tyrese Haliburton currently leads the NBA in assists per game at 10.1, with Harden – who averages 11.0 assists along with his 22.1 points and 6.0 rebounds – not yet qualifying at 21 games played.
The Pacers’ most recent win came against the Toronto Raptors, 122-114, on Monday. Seven winning players scored in double figures, as rookie lottery pick Bennedict Mathurin led the way with 21 points (6-9 fg, 2-2 3fg, 7-10 ft) in 27 minutes off the bench. Bench points favored Mathurin and Co. by a 54-7 margin.
Tyrese Maxey made his home return from injury (foot) in the Sixers’ last game, also Monday, a 120-111 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Joel Embiid delivered his seventh 40-point game of the season.
Maxey received a standing ovation from the fans when he checked into the game midway through the first quarter.
“That was so cool,” teammate Georges Niang said postgame. “Tyrese has worked extremely hard to get back and to be able to play. To see that for him I think brought a lot of us some joy because that kid is a salt-of-the-earth human being. He does things the right way. He’s an amazing person, and it’s so great to see a city like Philadelphia – so historic with sports and basketball – embrace him like they have because he is truly a treasure. As Tobias [Harris] would say, protect Tyrese at all costs.”
Including the Oct. 24 win over the Pacers, as well as Monday against New Orleans, the Sixers are 7-1 when scoring at least 120 points.
Indiana leads the league in fast break points per game (18.4) and attempts the fifth-most threes per contest (39.3). They make 37.2 percent of those 3-point attempts, a top-10 mark. The Sixers, meanwhile, are fifth in 3-point percentage (38.1).
Wednesday is a 7 p.m. start in South Philadelphia.
Monday’s Top Performances…
Joel Embiid
James Harden
Georges Niang
Tyrese Maxey
De’Anthony Melton
76ers vs. New Orleans Pelicans: Jan. 02, 2023
1 / 6PHILADELPHIA, PA - JANUARY 2: Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers shoots the ball during the game against the New Orleans Pelicans on January 2, 2023 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
@Sixers Social:
Quote to Note:
Montrezl Harrell on Joel Embiid winning Eastern Conference Player of the Month...
"He’s basically showing everybody why he should be in that conversation for winning MVP, if not the front-runner of it."
