Tyrese Maxey on Sunday scored 10 of his 45 points in overtime to carry the Philadelphia 76ers to their first victory of the NBA season, a hard-fought 118-114 triumph over the Indiana Pacers.
Philadelphia had struggled in their first two games with former NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid sidelined by injury and newly acquired nine-time All-Star Paul George’s Sixers debut delayed by a knee injury, but Maxey made sure they got into the win column, shrugging off early shooting struggles to come through when it mattered.
Maxey made just two of six shots in the first half and missed his first seven attempts in the third quarter before finding his touch, drilling a jump shot with 2.3 seconds left that gave Philadelphia a 79-78 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Photo: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images / USA Today
Maxey scored 14 points in a fourth quarter that featured 10 lead changes. It went to overtime when Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton drained a three-pointer to tie it at 105-105 with 3.5 seconds left and Maxey was off target with a three at the buzzer.
Maxey made a three-pointer to open overtime and the Sixers never trailed. His big night came after he shot just 29.6 percent from the field over the first two games.
“I wasn’t so much disappointed in my offense the last two games, our offense as a whole — it was our effort,” Maxey said. “I was letting my offense affect my effort defensively. Today I was just going extremely hard defensively, kind of got going and we benefited from that.”
Caleb Martin added 17 points and 12 rebounds. Kelly Oubre had 14 points and eight rebounds, while Andre Drummond scored nine points with 17 rebounds.
Haliburton led the Pacers with 22 points — one of seven Indiana players to score in double figures.
Elsewhere, the Portland Trail Blazers and Brooklyn Nets notched their first victories of the season, Portland downing the New Orleans Pelicans 125-103 and Brooklyn fending off Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks 115-102.
Jerami Grant scored 28 points and Anfernee Simons added 27 as all five Portland starters scored in double figures. DeAndre Ayton scored 17 and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who never trailed in the second half.
C.J. McCollum led the Pelicans with 27 points, with Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram contributing 14 apiece.
Portland’s win came two days after the Pelicans pulled off a two-point victory after trailing the Blazers by double digits at halftime.
In Brooklyn, Cam Thomas scored 32 points and Dennis Schroder added 29 to power the Nets in their first win under Spanish coach Jordi Fernandez.
The Nets emerged from a back-and-forth third quarter with an 83-78 lead and pulled away in the final frame with help from 11 points from Thomas.
Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Antetokounmpo scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while Damian Lillard added 21 points for the Bucks, who have lost two straight after winning their season opener.
Oklahoma City improved to 3-0 as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 35 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists plus three steals and three blocks to lead hosts the Thunder over Atlanta 128-104.
Chet Holmgren added 25 points and Jalen Williams scored 20 for the Thunder, while Trae Young led Atlanta with 24 points and NBA Draft top pick Zaccharie Risacher of France added 13 points for the Hawks.
James Harden had 23 points and 11 assists, while Ivica Zubac had 23 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Los Angeles Clippers over hosts the Golden State Warriors 112-104.
Golden State star guard Stephen Curry, a four-time NBA champion, left the game in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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