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'Best' and 'Worst' awards: 76ers vs. Pacers

    by Keith Pompey, The Philadelphia Inquirer
    Published 

INDIANAPOLIS – My look at some of the best and worst performances from the Indiana Pacers' 103-91 victory over the 76ers on Wednesday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Best performance: Roy Hibbert was an easy winner even though the Pacers had six players score in double digits. While the balance was impressive, Hibbert's dominance was off the charts. Indiana's center had eight shots attempts, making six. He made 10 of 13 foul shots en route to scoring a game-high 22 points. HIbbert also had a game-high seven blocks to go with eight rebounds. This was Hibbert's first regular-season game with 20 or more points since March 26 against the Miami Heat.

Worst performance: This has to go to Sixers reserve JaKarr Sampson. He missed all four of his field-goal attempts en route to failing to score a point in 7 minutes, 55 seconds. .

Best defensive performance:  Hibbert gets this award for his seven blocked shots. That total was tied for the third-most in NBA opening-night history.

Best performance in a losing effort: Tony Wroten wins this award over Alexey Shved. That's because the Sixers point guard led his team in scoring, filled out the stat sheet and didn't hurt his team in the turnover department.  Wroten finished with 22 points, a game-high seven assists, eight rebounds, three steals and one turnover. That last statistic was the most impressive, considering Wroten was a turnover waiting to happen last season

Worst statistic: This award goes to the Sixers' foul shooting. They only made 56.7 percent of their foul shots. Nerlens Noel (2-for-6),KJ McDaniels (0-for-2) and Wroten (3-for-8) went a combined 5-for-16 from the foul line.

Best statistic: This award goes to Indiana's blocks. The Pacers finished with 13.

Worst of the Worst:  This award goes to the Sixers' second-half shooting. They shot 24 percent (6-for-25) in the fourth quarter and 28.3 percent (13-46) after intermission. They missed their final 10 shots and made just one of their last 14 overall.

Follow Inquirer 76ers beat writer Keith Pompey on Twitter @PompeyOnSixers and on Instagram at PompeyOnSixers