Tyrese Maxey gets going, dropping 45 in Sixers' first win of the season in OT against Pacers

Hey, look at that, a win.

The Sixers snapped their winning streak in dramatic fashion, defeating the Indiana Pacers 118-114 in overtime on Sunday.

Tyrese Maxey struggled again in the first half, but came back to life in the second half and finished with 45 points by going 14 of 32 from the floor and 5 of 17 from three. Caleb Martin finished with 17 points on 16 shots, Eric Gordon scored 15 points on 5 of 10 shooting. Andre Drummond finished the regular season with nine points, 17 rebounds and two big steals.

Here are some thoughts on the buzzer.

First quarter

• Nick Nurse was in the same starting lineup as Friday night, Kyle Lowry and Caleb Martin rounded out the game, and they once again started the game very poorly on offense. They made just two of their first 10 shots and turned the ball over three times within the first four minutes of the game. Indiana got off to an equally sloppy start, so it didn't hurt them too much.
• Eric Gordon looked pretty bad in the first two games, but he got off to a good start this afternoon, hitting his first two shots en route to seven points in the first quarter. It was also nice to see him read this to Oubre on the And-1, even though Gordon may have had a lead to the basket himself.

• A noticeable difference between this year's team and last's is how hard they try to get free balls. They grabbed five offensive rebounds and turned them into ten second-chance points. Guerschon Yabusele found a hit to give Maxey his first field goal, and Jared McCain fought for a floorboard that led to an easy basket by KJ Martin. They were able to win this battle despite some pretty small lineups in the first game as it ended with a five point lead over the Sixers.

Second quarter

• McCain successfully carried this energy across all districts. He slipped past the defense, grabbed a missed three-pointer and put it back in with ease. A few moments later, he used a hesitant move to get past TJ McConnell and hit a wide open finger roll.

• While the rest of the backcourt looked good, Maxey continued to struggle shooting the ball. He missed a couple of wide-open midranges, one of which was noticeably too short, which has become somewhat of a pattern. He definitely didn't push as hard and only took six shots in the first half. He provided three assists in the half, but also shot four times.
• There are many reasons for this, but the Sixers have simply been a terrible three-point scoring team this season. This mismatch helped the Pacers take the lead as they were 5 of 6 from behind the line while the Sixers were just 2 of 7. Indiana led by six at halftime.

Third quarter

• Andre Drummond didn't have the best first half, but his start to the second was much better. He finished off a throw with a dunk that turned into an and-1 and grabbed a few offensive rebounds to extend some possessions.
• However, the Sixers' three-point shooting issues continued into the third minute, particularly from Maxey. They missed six of their first eight three-pointers early in the second half. Five of those misses were from Maxeys, who simply blew things up.
• This interim break may have opened the floodgates for him. For him, this was the start of four performances in a row, all of which seemed much more familiar to him. His 14-point quarter included him finally dropping another three-pointer and beating Myles Turner in isolation off the dribble.

• Maxey was back in the swing of things, but the Sixers got in their own way trying to come out and take the lead. They turned the ball over on three of their next four possessions, which helped give the Sixers a one-point lead after the third.

Fourth quarter

• Maxey carried that momentum into the fourth quarter, scoring the first five points of the quarter. Unfortunately, it took three minutes for one of his teammates to score a field goal. When they did, however, it was KJ Martin who finally made his first three-pointer of the season.
• It was a tough night of filming for Yabu, but he did a lot of little things really well. Some of them appear in the statistics sheet. Five of his six rebounds were offensive. He did a great job of keeping properties alive. He also made some nice throws and extra passes, his way of just keeping everything moving is pretty refreshing for this team.

• With a minute and a half to go, the team seemed to be at the end with five minutes to go, but the entire team improved in the home straight. Their defense was shaky all night, but they managed two consecutive turnovers and took the lead with 32 seconds left. Drummond made it three in a row when he picked off Tyrese Halliburton out of the timeout, his second straight steal.
• Of course, Halliburton, which has struggled with three-pointers this year, hit a jaw-dropping three-pointer to tie the game at 105. The Sixers had 3.5 seconds left, but still couldn't make the playoffs. The momentum didn't fall across the field, sending this game to OT.

Over time

• Maxey was exactly what the Sixers needed in OT, starting with a stepback three well behind the line. He had two more excellent drives to the basket, giving the Sixers another three-point lead with 20 seconds left. It even seemed like he penalized Andrew Nembhard with a block, but it was converted into a foul.
• Kelly Oubre Jr. and Maxey each missed a free throw, leaving the door open for the Pacers. Caleb Martin intentionally fouled Halliburton because he thought they were still up by three when they were only up by two. Luckily, Halliburton missed both, saving Martin from a really bad mental mistake and securing the win for the Sixers.

• The Sixers return home this week, hopefully with reinforcements on the way. Their next game is Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET against the returning Tobias Harris and the Detroit Pistons.