INDIANAPOLIS — Joel Embiid briefly looked like he would return to the floor, when he received a replacement 76ers jersey from an equipment staffer during a timeout with less than six minutes remaining against the Indiana Pacers.
The wardrobe change was unnecessary. Backup center Paul Reed finished inside, Tobias Harris hit a tough turnaround jumper at the end of the shot clock, and Reed threw down a dunk off a feed from Shake Milton to propel their team to a 22-point cushion.
That finished off the latest Sixers onslaught, this by a 141-121 score without starters James Harden and P.J. Tucker Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, to clinch their eighth consecutive victory.
The winning streak matches the longest of the season for the surging Sixers (48-22), who have brilliantly navigated what appeared to be a daunting March filled with road games and back-to-backs. And it helps them keep pace in the Eastern Conference playoff standings, at least temporarily moving within a half-game of the second-place Boston Celtics, who played the Utah Jazz late Saturday.
Though Saturday was not an exact repeat of the defense-optional barnburner these teams played on March 6 — at least partially because offensive orchestrators Harden and Tyrese Haliburton, who rank 1-2 in the NBA in assists, missed the game — the Sixers still shot 61.4% from the floor including a 15-of-25 mark from 3-point distance.
After leading, 82-61, at the half, the Sixers extended that advantage to 99-82 on a Tobias Harris 3-pointer at the 4:07 mark of the third quarter. They led by as many as 24 in the final period.
Embiid put together another methodically dominant performance, with 31 points on 10-of-15 shooting, seven rebounds, and seven assists in 30 minutes. Tyrese Maxey scored 22 of his 31 points in the first half on a blistering 9-of-11 shooting from the floor, and also finished with seven assists. Harris added 24 points, five rebounds and four assists, while De’Anthony Melton stuffed the box score with 14 points, five rebounds, five assists and six steals in his return to the starting lineup.
The Sixers briefly return home to face the Chicago Bulls on Monday, before hitting the road again to take on the Bulls (Wednesday), Golden State Warriors (Friday), Phoenix Suns (March 25), and Denver Nuggets (March 27).
Mad Maxey
Perhaps Maxey should consider investing in some property in Indianapolis. Because he treats Gainbridge Fieldhouse like a second home gym.
Maxey’s latest outburst here came after he scored 24 points on 6-of-9 shooting from 3-point range on March 6, and totaled 30 points on 8-of-11 shooting from long range on April 5. It was his sixth 30-point game of the season, and the first since a Jan. 21 win at the Sacramento Kings (a game Harden also missed).
He connected on five of his nine deep attempts Saturday, but was a particularly dangerous driver early in the game. He finished multiple shots high off the glass. Or through contact. Or while watching the ball spin in.
His 3-pointer from the top of the key, however, pushed the Sixers’ lead to 125-105 with less than eight minutes to go.
House starts, McDaniels returns
With Tucker out, Danuel House Jr. made his third start of the season and finished with three points in 19 minutes.
His 3-pointer helped ignite the offense after falling behind, 12-4. But his highlight play, an explosive one-handed dunk, was called an offensive foul. The Sixers’ bench was not pleased, with Georges Niang flashing a thumbs down sign.
Reserve wing Jalen McDaniels (seven points in 16 minutes) also returned from a two-game absence with a hip bruise but appeared to be laboring, particularly while guarding and changing direction on defense.
That prevented him from repeating his best performance so far as a Sixer, when he amassed 20 points and eight rebounds in the March 6 win. Yet he made a couple key shots in the final period, rattling home a jumper and converting an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Sixers a 114-95 lead with less than 10 minutes to play.
