Tyrese Maxey scores 45 points to propel Philadelphia 76ers over Indiana Pacers

LOS ANGELES – Tyrese Maxey said playing “extremely hard defensively” helped him lock in offensively as he scored 10 of his 45 points in overtime to carry the Philadelphia 76ers to their firsts victory of the National Basketball Association (NBA) season, a 118-114 triumph over the Indiana Pacers, on Oct 27.

Philadelphia had struggled in their first two games, with former NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Joel Embiid sidelined by injury and newly acquired nine-time All-Star Paul George’s 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.

He made just two of six shots in the first half and missed his first seven attempts in the third quarter before finding his touch and drilling a 10-foot jump shot with 2.3 seconds left in the period to give Philadelphia a 79-78 lead.

The guard 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 3.5sec left and Maxey was off target from behind the arc at the buzzer.

Maxey made a three-pointer to open overtime and the Sixers never trailed. His big night came after he shot under 30 per cent from the field over the first two games.

“I wasn’t so much disappointed in my offence the last two games, our offence as a whole – it was our effort,” he said.

“I was letting my offence 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 and 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.

Over in San Francisco, Ivica Zubac had 23 points, 18 rebounds and six assists, and James Harden added 23 points and 11 assists to help the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Warriors 112-104 in Golden State’s home opener.

Norman Powell had 20 points and Derrick Jones Jr chipped in 18 for the Clippers, who saw a 13-point lead in the fourth trimmed to 101-100 on Andrew Wiggins’ three with 3min 47sec remaining.

But Harden drove for a lay-up and Powell blocked Buddy Hield’s three-point attempt and made a 20-footer at the other end to give the Clippers a 105-100 lead with 3:01 left.

Warriors star Stephen Curry departed the game with 2:43 left in the third quarter after suffering a sprained left ankle.

He did not leave the bench area and was reinserted into the contest with 8:08 remaining in the fourth and the Warriors down 93-85.

But his return lasted just 13 seconds, as he was subbed out for Wiggins, who finished with a game-high 29 points.

Curry finished with 18 points in 27 minutes. He made four of his seven three-point attempts and added six assists.

Coach Steve Kerr said Curry called the injury as “mild or moderate”.

Kerr told ESPN: “I feel more comfortable that we can withstand an absence offensively without Steph because of (our) depth...

“Wiggs is off to a great start and had a great night. He’s an obvious candidate to get the ball more. But we’ve got a deep team. We’ve got a lot of guys who can play. We will be ready.”

Hield said “it’ll be a great challenge” playing without his 10-time All-Star teammate but insisted “we’ve just got to stick together”.

In Brooklyn, Cam Thomas scored 32 points and Dennis Schroder added 29 to power the Nets to their first win under Spanish coach Jordi Fernandez as they fended off Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks 115-102.

Fernandez told ESPN: “It represents a moment in my life and you look at it and it’s the beginning of something special.”

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 MVP Antetokounmpo scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Damian Lillard added 21 points for the Bucks, who have lost two straight games after winning their season opener. AFP, REUTERS