Tyrese Maxey scores 45 as the Sixers fight past the Pacers in OT

INDIANAPOLIS — The Philadelphia 76ers had another game, and, surprisingly, avoided another loss.

Sunday’s contest against the Indiana Pacers was destined to be a tough challenge when word broke last week that Joel Embiid would be sidelined. And after the Sixers lost to the rebuilding Toronto Raptors on Friday, their game against the Indiana Pacers looked more like an insurmountable challenge.

Someone forgot to tell that to the Sixers.

Led my Tyrese Maxey’s second-half outburst, they exited Gainbridge Fieldhouse with a 118-114 victory.

The victory enabled the Sixers (1-2) to avoid starting a season with three straight losses for the sixth time in 10 years.

Maxey snapped out of his shooting slump. The All-Star point guard finished with a season-high 45 points on 14-for-32 shooting, making 12-of-15 foul shots. Thirty-eight of his points came after intermission.

He made just 2-of-6 shots in the first half before missing his first seven attempts in the third quarter. However, Maxey then made his next four attempts in the quarter before missing. He capped the quarter by scoring on a 10-foot jumper with 2.3 seconds left, giving the Sixers a 79-78 advantage. Maxey scored 14 points in the quarter on 5-13 shooting.

Maxey added 14 points on 4-for-8 shooting while playing the entire fourth quarter. Then he scored 10 of the Sixers’ 13 points in the extra session. And with his squad up 114-111, Maxey appeared to block Andrew Nembhard’s layup with 15.4 seconds remaining in overtime. However, it was determined that he fouled the Pacers guard following a coach’s challenge.

But Nembhard split the free throws to make it a two-point game. Indiana intentionally fouled Kelly Oubre Jr. with 14.7 seconds left. He split a pair to put the Sixers up, 115-112. Then Aaron Nesmith made two at the other end to pull the Pacers within one point. Maxey was put on the foul line with 9.4 seconds left. He split a pair to give the Sixers a two-point lead.

But Caleb Martin fouled Tyrese Haliburton. He missed the first before intentionally missing the second. The Sixers got the rebound and Maxey iced the game with a pair of foul shots to put the Sixers up, 118-114, with 2.5 seconds left.

Some of Maxey’s success came while Caleb Martin (17 points, 12 rebounds) was handling the ball. That enabled Maxey to slide to shooting guard and look for his own shot.

Maxey’s outburst came after the league’s reigning Most Improved Player shot 29.6% while making just 4-of-21 three-pointers in the first two games.

Three turnovers on three straight late possessions by Indiana helped to determine the outcome. Andre Drummond stole the ball on the second possession, leading to Martin’s layup to put the Sixers up 103-102 with 32.4 seconds left.

Then Maxey was fouled after the third turnover. He made both free throws to make it a three-point game with 11.7 seconds remaining. But Haliburton forced overtime after making a three-pointer to knot the score at the 3.5-second mark.

Meanwhile, Eric Gordon had his best game as a Sixer.

Gordon, one of this summer’s free-agent acquisitions, finished with a season-high 15 points after averaging five points in the first two games.

Indiana was coming off Friday night’s humbling 123-98 loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Haliburton, an All-NBA point guard, was held scoreless on 0-for-8 shooting.

So he and the Pacers were looking to get back on the right track against the Sixers. Indiana expected a tough test.

“This is the all-time sucker game, really,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle before the contest with the undermanned Sixers. “They are shooting 40 free throws a game. They are top five in the league in rim rate. They really punish you if you turn it over. And we turned it over a lot in New York.

“So this is a veteran team that’s going to be very, very, desperate today. So we are going to have to meet this game with a lot of urgency right off the bat.”

In this game, Haliburton scored while taking the game’s first shot attempt 17 seconds into the contest.

However, he had his second shot, a layup, blocked by Drummond before hitting the front rim on his third attempt, a three-pointer. But he made a layup on his fourth attempt. Haliburton finished with 22 points and two assists.