By Aaron Bracy

PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid scored a season-high 39 points, Paul George had 23 and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Indiana Pacers 115-105 on Friday night.

VJ Edgecombe added 22 points for the 76ers, who played without Tyrese Maxey — the NBA’s third-leading scorer (31.5 points per game) sat out with an illness.

Pascal Siakam had 20 points for the defending Eastern Conference champion Pacers, who dropped to 6-19.

Siakam’s jumper with 8:24 remaining gave Indiana a 100-95 lead, but the Pacers missed nine consecutive shots — including three 3-pointers — after that as the 76ers went on a 13-2 run. The spurt was capped with Embiid’s offensive rebound and follow basket. The 2023 MVP was fouled on the play and made the free throw to push Philadelphia’s lead to 108-102.

Embiid, t

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