The Philadelphia 76ers stretched their NBA-best winning streak to eight games after beating the Indiana Pacers on the second night of a back-to-back. Joel Embiid had another dominant game but many of his Sixers teammates stepped up in James Harden's absence. One of them was De'Anthony Melton.
Melton's defense was amazing against the Tyrese Haliburton-less Pacers. He collected six steals and a block, tormenting the Indiana ball handlers (mostly former Sixer T.J. McConnell) and generating easy points for the Sixers. On top of his disruptive defense, he tallied 14 points on 6-10 shooting, five rebounds, five assists and a block.
Tyrese Maxey, who had 31 points and seven assists in the win, poked fun at him for coming up one steal shy of tying his career high. “You didn’t get your career high in steals. Haha, you stink,” Maxey joked on the NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast.
Tyrese and De'Anthony been dropping post game gems all season 😂 pic.twitter.com/jFy72AMM6H
— Brock Landes (@LandesBrock) March 19, 2023
Tyrese Maxey and De'Anthony Melton have been close since Melton joined the Sixers via offseason trade. After Melton stole the ball and slammed down a dunk to end the first quarter, Maxey ran from the bench to celebrate with him. The two guards are always shooting around at the same basket after Sixers practices and have meshed very well together despite being previously moved in and out of the same starting lineup spot.
Over the course of the season, Maxey has been very complimentary of Melton and his ability to impact the game in various ways. Having that type of player is a notable reason why the Sixers have one of the deepest teams in the league and a shot at going deep in the playoffs.
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