Preview: Philadelphia 76ers vs. Indiana Pacers: Player props, injury report and prediction

Quick summary

Philadelphia 76ers @ Indiana Pacers · Gainbridge Fieldhouse · 11:00pm GMT (Wed)

Tip of the match 76ers -1.5	Game total Under 238.5
Key player prop Maxey, over 26.5 points	Injury alert Haliburton (IND) — Questionable

In this article

Form and outlook
Team news and rotations
Key matchups
Player props
Head-to-head
Tips and prediction

Philadelphia 76ers, winners of four straight meetings in this fixture, travel to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to face an Indiana Pacers side still easing Tyrese Haliburton back from last season's Achilles tear on Wednesday.

Philadelphia arrive 3-1 and second in the Eastern Conference off a near-total overhaul of their roster around Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown and LeBron James, while Indiana sit 2-2 and ninth after a 2025-26 campaign that finished outside the play-off picture.

How do Philadelphia 76ers and Indiana Pacers measure up right now?

Form Guide

Philadelphia 76ers

3-1 · 2nd, Eastern Conference

Last 5 (2025-26 play-offs vs. Knicks & 2026-27 regular season)

L W W W L

110.0PPG

107.0Opp PPG

105.4Off. rating

102.5Def. rating

Indiana Pacers

2-2 · 9th, Eastern Conference

Last 5 (2025-26 finale & 2026-27 regular season)

L W L W L

116.5PPG

115.0Opp PPG

113.5Off. rating

112.1Def. rating

Three straight wins to open the season, over the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks, carried Philadelphia to a 3-0 start before a 93-106 home defeat to Detroit halted the run on Sunday.

Joel Embiid sat that Detroit game out for precautionary rest on the second night of a back-to-back while managing plantar fasciitis, but he is confirmed off the injury report and expected to start at centre on Wednesday.

Indiana's own form has swung game to game, a 123-120 win at New Orleans and a 136-109 rout at Brooklyn sandwiched around defeats to Dallas and Milwaukee, the latter arriving on the second night of Indiana's own back-to-back on Monday.

Haliburton's comeback remains the bigger story of the week since his Achilles tear wiped out the whole of his 2025-26 season, and his first game back, in the preseason opener at his college home of Iowa State, produced 16 minutes, seven points, six assists, a block and two steals before he told The Pat McAfee Show his body was responding well.

Tale of the Tape

76ersPacers

110.0PPG116.5

Pacers +6.5

107.0Opp PPG115.0

76ers -8.0

105.4Off. rating113.5

Pacers +8.1

102.5Def. rating112.1

76ers -9.6

25.0APG29.3

Pacers +4.3

12.8TOV15.5

76ers -2.7

31.7%3P%32.7%

Pacers +1.0%

Indiana have been the more productive attacking side through four games while Philadelphia have the sturdier defence of the two, so Wednesday's game is likely to come down to whether Philadelphia's defence travels better than Indiana's offence performs at home.

Ball security favours Philadelphia too, a factor worth weighing given how often these two sides have traded big scoring nights already this season.

The two teams' home and road form currently runs in opposite directions, Indiana winning half their road games against a quarter of their home games so far, and Philadelphia the mirror image at home, though with only four games apiece in the bank that split reads as early-season colour rather than a settled trend.

Neither side is on a back-to-back for this one, Philadelphia having had two days since Detroit and Indiana one since Milwaukee, part of a dense week on the NBA schedule that has both teams playing five games in eight days.

Who's missing when Philadelphia 76ers visit Indiana Pacers?

Injury Report

Philadelphia 76ers

Joel Embiid — plantar fasciitis managementrested Oct 25, back for this oneAvailable

VJ Edgecombe — abdomenpracticed in full TuesdayQuestionable

Jabari Walker — left knee sorenessOut

Dominick Barlow — lumbar stress responseOut

Tacko Fall — left quad strainOut

Ariel Hukporti — ruptured right Achillesout for the seasonOut

Indiana Pacers

Tyrese Haliburton — left hamstring tightnesssingle-source flag, re-check before tip-offQuestionable

Andrew Nembhard — neckQuestionable

Obi Toppin — left hand sprainProbable

Aaron Nesmith — left hamstring strainProbable

Ivica Zubac — left ankleOut

Ben Sheppard — torn left meniscusOut

T.J. McConnell — right hamstring strainOut

Johnny Furphy — torn right ACLout for the seasonOut

Philadelphia's medical wing is mostly clear now that Embiid has been cleared to play, with VJ Edgecombe's abdomen issue the main item left to monitor before he can be pencilled in at shooting guard.

Further down the depth chart, Jabari Walker, Dominick Barlow and Tacko Fall are all out, and Ariel Hukporti remains sidelined for the season with a ruptured Achilles, though none of the four were in line for rotation minutes against Indiana regardless.

Indiana's list carries more weight, with Ivica Zubac, Ben Sheppard and T.J. McConnell all ruled out and Johnny Furphy done for the year with a torn ACL, leaving the hosts short at both centre and in the backcourt.

Haliburton's hamstring tightness, flagged only on the team's live injury report and not yet echoed anywhere else, is the swing factor to watch before tip-off, alongside Andrew Nembhard's own neck issue that already cost him Monday's game at Milwaukee.

Philadelphia 76ers vs. Indiana Pacers, the matchups that could decide it

Key Matchups

Backcourt engines

Tyrese Haliburton

IND

Tyrese Maxey

PHI

21.8PPG

9.5APG

4.8APG

28.8PPG

Maxey's scoring load dwarfs anything Indiana's backcourt has produced early, but Haliburton's playmaking is what keeps the Pacers competitive whenever his hamstring allows him the minutes.

Frontcourt collision

Joel Embiid

PHI

Pascal Siakam

IND

21.7PPG

9.7RPG

7.8RPG

23.5PPG

Embiid returns fresh off a rest night, while Siakam is already carrying a heavier rebounding load than usual with Zubac ruled out of Indiana's frontcourt rotation.

Maxey's scoring average so far dwarfs anything Indiana can throw back defensively in the backcourt, and with Haliburton managing his own fitness, Philadelphia's lead guard looks set to dictate pace from the opening tip.

Embiid and Siakam represent the heavier collision up front, Embiid returning fresh after his rest night and Siakam shouldering an even bigger rebounding load than usual with Zubac already ruled out of the Indiana frontcourt.

Player props for Philadelphia 76ers vs. Indiana Pacers

Player Props to Watch

Tyrese MaxeyPHI

PointsOver 26.5

28.8Season PPG

4GP this season

Maxey is Philadelphia's clear top scoring option early and faces an Indiana defence already conceding 115.0 points a game.

Joel EmbiidPHI

ReboundsOver 8.5

9.7Season RPG

3GP this season

Embiid returns fresh off a rest night against an Indiana frontcourt already missing Zubac on the glass.

Pascal SiakamIND

PointsOver 22.5

23.5Season PPG

4GP this season

Siakam is already Indiana's go-to scoring option, and the workload only grows with Haliburton managing his hamstring and McConnell unavailable.

Philadelphia 76ers and Indiana Pacers: a lopsided recent rivalry

Season Series

10 Apr 202676ers 105-94 PacersIndianapolis

24 Feb 202676ers 135-114 PacersIndianapolis

19 Jan 202676ers 113-104 PacersPhiladelphia

12 Dec 202576ers 115-105 PacersPhiladelphia

14 Mar 2025Pacers 112-100 76ersPhiladelphia

Philadelphia have won the last four meetings between these two sides, a run that stretches back to Indiana's most recent victory in the series on March 14, 2025.

Two of those four wins came by double figures, including a 135-114 result at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in February, suggesting Philadelphia's roster upgrades have widened what was already a lopsided recent series.

There is no meaningful play-off history between these franchises to lean on, so Wednesday's game is best read as this season's opening instalment of an already one-sided rivalry rather than the start of anything with deeper stakes.

Tips and prediction for Philadelphia 76ers vs. Indiana Pacers

Spread76ers -1.5

Philadelphia's defensive numbers and their grip on this series make them the more reliable side to lay points with on the road.

TotalUnder 238.5 points

Philadelphia's ball control and the sturdier of the two defences on show point to a game that falls short of a shootout.

PropMaxey over 26.5 points

Indiana's defence has been the more generous of the two early, and Maxey is already Philadelphia's clear go-to scorer.

PropEmbiid over 8.5 rebounds

A rested Embiid against an Indiana frontcourt missing Zubac projects to a heavy workload on the glass.

Parlay76ers -1.5 + Under 238.5

Both picks lean on the same read of this game, a controlled, defensively sturdier Philadelphia side grinding out a contest rather than trading runs.

Score Prediction

Pacers 106-113 76ers

Predicted margin: 7 points · Predicted total: 219

Philadelphia's defensive numbers and their grip on this series make the visitors the more reliable side to back, with Indiana's crowded injury list and their own shakier home form this season tipping the total toward the under.

LeBron James, playing out the latest chapter of a farewell-tour narrative that has shadowed much of his season, projects for a steadying veteran role rather than a leading one, with Philadelphia's class up front expected to be enough to see off a Pacers side still finding its feet.