Although the Philadelphia 76ers lost their first game of the 2026/27 season to the Detroit Pistons on Sunday, the start to the LeBron James era has undoubtedly been a success. It’s obviously early in the season, but Philadelphia is tied atop the Eastern Conference through the first week of games.
Tonight, the 76ers will face another team expected to be in the playoff hunt when they travel to face the Indiana Pacers at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Indiana has an extremely long injury report for tonight’s game: Johnny Furphy (ACL), T.J. McConnell (hamstring), Ben Sheppard (meniscus), and Ivica Zubac (ankle) are all out, Tyrese Haliburton (hamstring) and Andrew Nembhard (neck) are questionable, and Kobe Brown (G-League), Aaron Nesmith (hamstring), Jalen Slawson (G-League), Braden Smith (G-League), and Obi Toppin (hand) are all probable. Dominick Barlow (back), Tacko Fall (quad), Ariel Hukporti (Achilles), and Jabari Walker (knee) all remain out for Philadelphia, although Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe are set to return after sitting out the loss to the Pistons.
The 76ers are 5.5-point favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook (-198 Moneyline), with the point total set to 236.5. The Pacers are +164 on the Moneyline.
Below, I’ll break down tonight’s potential playoff preview and offer a prediction.
Philadelphia 76ers at Indiana Pacers preview, prediction
So far this season, Philadelphia’s new-look starting five (Tyrese Maxey, Edgecombe, James, Jaylen Brown, and Embiid) has played 32 minutes together, outscoring opponents by 36.7 points per 100 possessions. I doubt that number is sustained across a full season, but the fact that the 76ers have played some pretty difficult teams and are still at that elite number bodes well. The 76ers’ offense should improve from its current ranking (26th), even if its defense slips slightly from being the fourth-best so far, and their overwhelming talent seems to have overcome potential fit questions so far.
Indiana has a similar net rating. It has had an above-average offense so far, ranking 12th in offensive rating, as Tyrese Haliburton (21.8 points and 9.5 assists per game) has shown few signs that he’s still affected by the torn Achilles that he suffered in the 2025 NBA Finals. Pascal Siakam has continued to be a solid No. 2 option, leading the team in scoring (23.5 points per game) and shooting the ball efficiently. Defensively, the Pacers have been slightly above-average so far, just as they were during their run to the Finals in 2024/25, although Zubac’s absence could hurt their defense in the medium term, given how bad they were last season with Jay Huff as their primary rim protector.
76ers at Pacers pick, best bet
Philadelphia has a team full of slashers, and it only leaned more fully into that identity this offseason by adding James and Brown. In fact, the 76ers finished fourth in restricted-area attempts per game in 2025/26 and rank fourth again in 2026/27, and 41-year-old James ranks third league-wide in layup attempts per contest, with Maxey seventh and Brown 11th. Indiana has tried the 11th-most layups this season while making them at the seventh-highest clip. However, neither team has been great at preventing tries at the rim, as the Pacers have allowed the fifth-most layups so far while Philadelphia ranks ninth-to-last. I trust Embiid slightly more as a rim protector than Huff, so I’d give the 76ers the slight overall edge on the interior, especially since the 76ers have a proper backup center in Adem Bona and Indiana will rely on the slight Siakam for backup big minutes.
Neither of these teams was great on the glass in 2025/26, and neither has been great so far this season, but I’d also give Philadelphia the edge in the rebounding battle. In the minutes that Embiid sits, Bona is more than capable of cleaning up the glass, as he’s averaged 15.1 rebounds per 100 possessions so far this season, while Huff and Siakam are somewhat less formidable. Similarly, both of these teams have been pretty solid in transition, but the fact that the 76ers have James and Maxey, both of whom thrived in such situations last season, should give them the edge in the long run. Neither team has been significantly more or less disciplined than the other, but the Pacers have done a better job getting to the charity stripe, and Philadelphia might not have the requisite depth if one of its stars gets into foul trouble.
Indiana could make up for some of its disadvantages with its shooting. The Pacers have produced 4.3 more wide-open three-pointers per game this season than the 76ers have, and although Siakam’s overall accuracy (44.4%) is due for regression, Nesmith is a solid shooter and Kelly Oubre Jr. (18.8%) can only get better. The 76ers have gotten quite unlucky, making only one-quarter of their uncontested tries so far, and while James’ (10.0%) and Embiid’s (21.4%) marks are virtually guaranteed to jump, Philadelphia doesn’t have quite as much raw shooting talent, Maxey aside. Neither team has allowed many wide-open threes, but I’d expect that to be more sustainable for Indiana in the long run, given its stifling defense during the 2025 playoffs.
This game could be pretty close, and if it’s close late, Haliburton’s penchant for clutch heroics might tip the game in favor of the Pacers. It should also be fast — both teams rank in the top seven in pace so far this season — which could benefit Indiana’s younger legs. However, the 76ers are so relentless in their ability to get downhill and the Pacers so thin on the interior with Zubac out that I expect Philadelphia to dominate the non-Huff minutes. Given that Huff played just 22 minutes in his lone start this season, that should be enough for the 76ers to cover the spread.
