PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — Tyrese Maxey had 29 points and eight steals hours after being named an All-Star starter for the first time, and Joel Embiid had 30 points and nine rebounds to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 113-104 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday night.
Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 18 points, and all five starters hit double figures.
Andrew Nembhard led the Pacers with 25 points and Pascal Siakam had 24 points on a night in which Indiana sports fans were more likely tuned to the college football national championship game.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle lamented before the game he would miss the showdown between the Hoosiers and Miami.
He called it a “bummer.”
Carlisle likely felt much the same way after the Pacers followed a modest three-game win streak with their third loss in four games.
Maxey — who thanked his “fellow Americans” for voting him into the game — shot 12 of 24 from the floor and added eight assists as he continued to show why he is one of the NBA’s rising stars.
Maxey was named one of the five starters out of the Eastern Conference and is set to play for the United States in the first version of the US vs The World for next month’s All-Star game.
Maxey will make his first start and earned his second selection for the Sixers on the strength of averaging 30.3 points headed into the game.
Maxey said he was asleep when rookie teammate V.J. Edgecombe called around 2 p.m. to congratulate him on the selection. Maxey then took an excited phone call from his mom — and he went back to bed.
The 76ers sleepwalked through most of the first three quarters and trailed the 10-win Pacers at halftime and only led 82-81 at the end of the third quarter.
By the time Embiid helped put some distance between the Pacers, Maxey was subbed out for good late in the fourth and earned a rousing ovation from Sixers fans.
Bucks 112, Hawks 110
In Atlanta, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 21 points and 17 rebounds, and the Milwaukee Bucks snapped a three-game losing streak, holding off the Atlanta Hawks after squandering a 23-point lead in the second half.
The Hawks led 105-104 on Jalen Johnson’s three-pointer with 1:11 remaining before dropping their fourth in a row in the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day game played in the hometown of the civil rights icon.
AJ Green and Bobby Portis hit back-to-back 3s, Johnson turned the ball over and Antetokounmpo powered inside for a basket that made it 109-105 with 36 seconds to go.
The Hawks still had a chance after Nickeil Alexander-Walker connected from outside the stripe and Ryan Rollins missed a free throw for the Bucks. But CJ McCollum bobbled the ball and wound up flinging an off-balance shot that clanked off the rim to seal it for Milwaukee.
Atlanta nearly won after missing its first 21 shots from three-point range. The Hawks trailed 54-38 at halftime and 74-51 approaching the midway point of the third period before finally coming to life.
Alexander-Walker led the Hawks with 32 points, while Johnson had 28 points and 16 rebounds. The Bucks were more balanced, with six players in double figures.
Milwaukee made a lineup change, dropping Kevin Porter Jr. from the starting five. After starting all 22 games he had played this season, Porter was replaced by Kyle Kuzma.
Porter was benched after a rough January that included a 0-for-9 shooting performance in Milwaukee’s previous game, a blowout loss to the San Antonio Spurs. He played 28 minutes against the Hawks with nine points, seven assists and six rebounds.
The Hawks continued to struggle at home, dropping to 7-13 at State Farm Arena. They are 13-12 on the road.
As part of the holiday commemoration, Martin Luther King III and his wife, Arndrea Waters King, were recognized during a timeout early in the third quarter.
Spurs 123, Jazz 110
In San Antonio, Victor Wembanyama had a season-high seven three-pointers and finished with 33 points and 10 rebounds hours after being named an All-Star starter for the first time.
Wembanyama, named to his second All-Star team and the eighth San Antonio player to start, shot 7 for 12 from three-point distance and finished one shy of his career best, set on Nov. 13, 2024, against Washington.
The Spurs had seven players score in double figures in winning their third straight and for the fifth time in seven games.
The backcourt trio of Stephon Castle (18 points), Dylan Harper (15) and De’Aaron Fox (14) combined for 47 points for San Antonio.
Keyonte George had 30 points and Jusuf Nurkic added 20 for Utah.
The Jazz snapped the Spurs’ eight-game winning streak in the teams’ previous meeting on Dec. 27, 2025. San Antonio and Wembanyama made sure there was not a repeat finish.
Wembanyama was 3 for 4 on three-pointers in scoring 13 points in the opening quarter and had 21 points at the half.
The Spurs outscored Utah 35-23 in the third quarter and turned a four-point halftime lead into their 17th victory by double figures.
Castle had 11 points in the third quarter, going 6 for 6 on free throws. He finished 7 for 10 from the line.
Wembanyama averaged 31.3 points during a three-game sweep of San Antonio’s home stand.
Utah has lost four straight and closed its road trip 1-4.