Warren Drops Career-High as Pacers top Sixers

Game one is in the books for the Sixers, but things did not turn out in their favor. After an unreal performance by TJ Warren, the Pacers walked away with a 127-121 victory. With this loss the Sixers now find themselves in the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Warren has had his way against the Sixers all year and nothing changed in this game. He finished the game with a career-high 53 points and shot an incredible 20 for 29 from the floor. After the game, Brett Brown said the Sixers’ defenders were “too generous” in the space they gave Warren.

Joel Embiid left his mark on this game and tried his hardest to will the Sixers to victory. He posted a monster stat line of 41 points and 21 rebounds in just 34 minutes on the floor. Embiid was dominant from the opening tip, and when he was on the floor the Pacers had no answer for him.

Tobias Harris also stepped up big for the Sixers, scoring 30 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Ben Simmons stuffed the stat sheet as he always does. He finished the game with 19 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and one steal. The Sixers’ big three did what they could to keep the Sixers in a position to walk away with the win.

Turnovers were a key factor that led to the Sixers dropping this game to the Pacers. There was too much sloppy and careless passing from the Sixers, and it led to them committing 21 turnovers while the Pacers had 10. Taking care of the ball needs to become a focal point moving forward.

This was a game to forget for Shake Milton. His debut in the full-strength Sixers lineup did not go as well as everyone would have hoped. In 19 minutes of action, he went scoreless, committed three turnovers, and had five personal fouls. He shot the ball once in his time on the floor which is something that is going to have to drastically change in the future.

In this sprint to the end of the season, there is no time to dwell on a game like this. The Sixers need to take this game for what it was and work on correcting their mistakes to be better in their remaining games. They will be back in action on Monday to take on the San Antonio Spurs.

Kevin McCormick is the 76ers insider for 97.3 ESPN and 76ers editor for Sportstalkphilly.com. Follow him on Twitter @KevinMcC973.