76ers put end to road struggles with 100-94 win at Indiana
INDIANAPOLIS — Joel Embiid scored 20 points and Ben Simmons nearly posted a triple double to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 100-94 win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night for their first road win this season.
Simmons had 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as Philadelphia ended a five-game losing streak on the road. The 76ers also snapped an eight-game losing streak at Bankers Life Fieldhouse that dated to April 2013.
Victor Oladipo scored 24 points in the first half on 10 of 16 shooting and finished with a season-high 36 points for the Pacers. Domantas Sabonis had 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Just three nights after getting blown out at Brooklyn, the 76ers looked right at home in Indianapolis. They started fast, jumping to a 19-9 lead, and closed it out by starting the fourth quarter on a 14-4 run that made it 92-75 with 7:32 left.
In between, Philadelphia struggled to maintain control.
Indiana closed the deficit to 2923 after one quarter, used an 18-3 spurt in the second quarter to take a 41-36 lead and wound up tying the score 50-50 at halftime.
The 76ers rebuilt a five-point lead early in the third quarter and Robert Covington scored eight of the Sixers’ final 10 points in the quarter to give Philadelphia a 78-71 lead.
But when Shamet made backto-back 3s and Dario Saric completed a four-point play 6:59 left, Philadelphia led 96-77 and the Pacers couldn’t get closer than seven until the final seconds.
Ben Simmons scored 16 points.
76ers: Had lost their previous five road games by an average of 15.2 points . ... Philadelphia also had lost two straight in the series . ... Saric finished with a season high 18 points . ... Embiid also had 10 rebounds to post his league-leading (10th) double-double this season . ... J.J. Redick scored 10 points, his 21st consecutive double-figure game dating to March 26, 2018.
Pacers: Have lost consecutive home games for the first time this season . ... Indiana is now 5-2 against the Eastern Conference and 3-1 against Atlantic Division opponents . ... Oladipo extended his career-best streak of consecutive 20-point games to 11 . ... Sabonis has scored 1,002 points since joining the Pacers last season . ... Indiana was 12 of 17 from the free-throw line and 8 of 31 on 3-pointers.