Sixers Bell Ringer: Maxey comes alive late for 45 points in OT win over Pacers

Tyrese Maxey had 10 points midway through the third period before finding his shooting groove, exploding for 45 total points in the Sixers’ overtime win over the Indiana Pacers.

Sixers Bell Ringer regular season standings:

Kelly Oubre, Jr. – 1

Guerschon Yabusele – 1

The Philadelphia 76ers earned their first win of the season in dramatic fashion on Sunday afternoon with a 118-114 victory in overtime over the Indiana Pacers.

The Sixers were still without Joel Embiid and Paul George for Sunday’s contest. It is worth noting, however, that this is the last game that the duo have been confirmed to be unavailable for to this point. They are both set to be reevaluated.

This one was a rollercoaster. What was looking like another sluggish game from the Sixers (minus some notable early efforts by Caleb Martin and Eric Gordon) got turned on its head midway through the third period when Tyrese Maxey came to life. Maxey ended up dropping 45 points in the Sixers’ overtime victory for their first one in the W column of the season.

For a full recap of this afternoon’s contest that you might have skipped to watch football, check out ours here.

The Sixers will have a couple of days off before hosting Tobias Harris and the Detroit Pistons at the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night. We will keep you posted on any updates regarding Embiid’s and George’s availabilities for that one.

Until then, let’s get to the Bell Ringer.

Tyrese Maxey: 45 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks

Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images

Let’s all be honest. Maxey has not played well to start the season. It’s OK, it happens, it doesn’t mean we don’t love him. He just has struggled, and that looked like it was going to continue this afternoon. Until midway through the third period, Maxey was still struggling shooting, had a number of sloppy turnovers, and sometimes looked completely lost on defense. With 5:30 left in the third period, Maxey had just 10 points on 2-for-13 field goal shooting.

And then, getting one good shot to fall seemed to not only fire up Maxey, but also helped him get into a groove we have yet to see him in through the first few games of this season. He ended up with 14 points in the third period, then tacked on another 14 in the fourth before adding 10 more in the overtime period. He was sinking threes, dancing through defenders to finish at the rim, hitting his free throws—everything we knew he could do, but hasn’t seemed to be able to to start this season so far.

From 5:30 Q3 to the end of the game (including overtime period), Maxey hit 12-of-19 field goals with four triples for 35 points, finishing the contest with 45 points total. That’s not even mentioning the number of clutch defensive plays he came up with including two blocks and nearly a third block that was reversed upon review for contact to the face in the follow through.

Everything switched on midway through the third period. It was the first glimpse we’ve had of Maxey at his best this season, and hopefully it can be just the mental boost he needed to get back into that groove consistently.

Eric Gordon: 15 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 block

Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images

Gordon was on one today in his home city of Indianapolis, putting up his best performance in a Sixers uniform so far.

Gordon came in off the bench midway through the first with the Sixers struggling to get anything going offensively. He quickly kicked it into high gear with a great cross-court sequence: he sinks a triple, then scoops up a loose ball on the defensive end and takes it all the way down into the paint before hitting a cutting Kelly Oubre Jr. with a dime (with a foul for a three-point play). Over the next minute or so, he hit a cutting layup and sank two free throws… so make that seven points and an assist in his first three minutes on the floor. This was a huge boost to the Sixers especially considering that Maxey was not exactly carrying the offensive load at this point in the game.

He quieted down later as Maxey took control of the game, and though Gordon’s early efforts seem overshadowed by Maxey’s turnaround, Gordon was a reason the Sixers weren’t staring down a steep deficit before even hitting halftime.

Caleb Martin: 17 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal

Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images

Martin was the only starter that seemed ready for the beginning of this contest. With his teammates struggling to get anything going, Martin cashed in on his opportunity to step up. He was aggressive driving to the rim and drawing fouls to get to the line and had six points in the first frame, keeping the Sixers afloat alongside Eric Gordon at that point in the game. Martin kept chipping in here and there offensively throughout, including scooping up a ball poked loose by Andre Drummond on the defensive end to finish it with the clutch lay-up down the other end, giving the Sixers a lead with 32 seconds left. He finished the game with 17 points (second in scoring for the Sixers… but admittedly, a distant second). He was also good on the glass, with 12 rebounds and four on the offensive end.

(Martin did intentionally foul Tyrese Halliburton thinking the Sixers were still up three when they were only up two with a few seconds left in overtime. Luckily, Halliburton missed both, bailing Martin out. Needs to be more aware next time.)

Andre Drummond: 9 points, 17 rebounds (5 offensive), 1 assist, 2 steals

Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images

Drummond came up absolutely huge in the biggest moments of this one. He was great on the glass, as he has been, pulling in 17 rebounds on Sunday including five that kept offensive possessions alive. He also cashed in on some easy bucket opportunities for nine points of his own. Despite some earlier defensive struggles and errors, Drummond settled in on that side of the floor as well as the game carried on. He had two immense, clutch steals on back-to-back defensive plays toward the end of regulation that gave the Sixers the lead at that point. The only thing that stopped those plays from clinching the victory in regulation was the ridiculous last-moment Tyrese Haliburton three-pointer that sent us to overtime.

Guerschon Yabusele: 6 rebounds (5 offensive), 4 assists, 1 steal

This is probably more of a shoutout than an actual Bell Ringer contender, as Yabusele had a rough night shooting and didn’t score a single point. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t do a lot of things right. Yabusele is a hustle guy, and one the Sixers have desperately needed for seemingly seasons upon seasons. He single-handedly resuscitated multiple possessions that were as good as dead by making the extra effort to battle for tough offensive boards.

Below is a particular favorite of mine. Yabusele is sandwiched between two defenders with no realistic chance at the initial rebound, but stays with the play to battle them for the loose ball, saving it from going out of bounds and ultimately leading to a Maxey triple.

I will never get tired of giving players their flowers for play like this.