Sixers Fail To Wrap Up Top Seed With Deflating Loss To Pacers
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Domantas Sabonis had his ninth triple-double of the season and Caris LeVert added 24 points to help Indiana rally past Philadelphia 103-94 on Tuesday night, ending the 76ers' eight-game winning streak.
Sabonis finished with 16 points, 13 rebounds and 15 assists as Indiana won for the third time in four games and clinched a spot in the play-in round.
Philadelphia's season-long winning streak was snapped and it prevented the 76ers from clinching the top seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 2000-01. A win or losses by the Milwaukee Bucks or Brooklyn Nets would have wrapped it up.
Instead, Tobias Harris scored 27 points and Ben Simmons finished with 23 as Joel Embiid sat out with a non-COVID-19 related illness.
Indiana trailed most of the first three quarters but rallied to take a 75-72 lead late in the third. After Philadelphia answered with an 8-0 run, the Pacers fought back to take a 94-92 lead with 3:49 left in the game and Indiana never trailed again.
TIP-INS
76ers: Simmons also had eight rebounds and seven assists. ... Seth Curry had 10 points. ... Philadelphia scored only 32 second-half points and had only 13 in the third quarter. ... Philadelphia failed to pull off its first season sweep of the Pacers since 2004-05. ... The 76ers also played without Furkan Korkmaz (sprained right ankle) and Matisse Thybulle (sore left hand).
Pacers: LeVert had seven rebounds and five assists. ... Doug McDermott finished with 20 points, Justin Holiday added 16 and T.J. McConnell had 10. ... The Pacers were 14 of 41 on 3-pointers. ... Indiana played its final back-to-back of the season, finishing 11-5 on the second night. ... The short-handed Pacers again played without Malcolm Brogdon (right hamstring), Jeremy Lamb (left knee), Edmond Sumner (left knee), Myles Turner (right foot) and T.J. Warren (left foot).
ON A ROLL
Sabonis has played his best basketball of the season since missing six games with a back injury. He came into the game averaging 26.0 points, 15.3 rebounds, 10.3 assists since May 1 and while he didn't pad those numbers Tuesday, he added another triple-double to his single-season franchise record.
UP NEXT
76ers: Make their final regular-season road trip Thursday at Miami.
Pacers: Host Milwaukee on Thursday in their second-to-last home game.
