Sixers Bell Ringer regular season rankings:

Kelly Oubre, Jr. – 1

Guerschon Yabusele – 1

The Philadelphia 76ers earned their first win of the season in dramatic fashion with a 118-114 overtime victory over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday afternoon.

The Sixers were without Joel Embiid and Paul George for Sunday's contest. However, it's worth noting that this is the last game that the duo is verifiably unavailable for up to this point. Both are facing reassessment.

This was a roller coaster ride. What looked like another sluggish game from the Sixers (aside from some notable early efforts from Caleb Martin and Eric Gordon) was turned on its head midway through the third period when Tyrese Maxey came to life. Maxey dropped 45 points in the Sixers' overtime win for the first time in the W column of the season.

A full recap of this afternoon's contest, which you might have skipped to watch football, can be found here: Check out ours here.

The Sixers have a few days off before hosting Tobias Harris and the Detroit Pistons at Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night. We will keep you posted on any updates regarding Embiid and George's availability for this game.

Until then, let’s get to the Bell Ringer.

Tyrese Maxey: 45 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks

Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images

Let's all be honest. Maxey didn't play well at the start of the season. It's okay, it happens, it doesn't mean we don't love him. He was just struggling and it looked like it was going to continue this afternoon. By the middle of the third period, Maxey was still struggling to shoot, had a number of sloppy turnovers and appeared completely lost on defense at times. With 5:30 left in the third period, Maxey only had 10 points on 2-for-13 field goal shooting.

And then dropping a good shot seemed to not only fire Maxey up, but also help him get into a rhythm that we haven't seen in the first few games this season. He ended up scoring 14 points in the third period, then scored another 14 points in the fourth period before adding ten more points in overtime. He sank three-pointers, danced through defenders to the rim, hit his free throws – everything we knew from him could do, but so far it hasn't seemed possible for me to start this season.

From 5:30 Q3 to the end of the game (including overtime), Maxey made 12 of 19 field goals with four triples for 35 points and finished the contest with 45 total points. That's without even mentioning the number of defensive tackles he came up with, including two blocks and nearly a third block that was reversed when checking for contact with the clubface on the follow-through.

Midway through the third period, everything turned on. It was the first glimpse of Maxey at his best this season, and hopefully it's just the mental boost he needed to get back into the rhythm for good.

Eric Gordon: 15 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 block

Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images

Gordon was in his hometown of Indianapolis today and put in his best performance yet in a Sixers jersey.

Gordon came off the bench midway through the first as the Sixers struggled to get anything going offensively. He quickly got up to speed with a great cross-court sequence: He sank a triple, then grabbed a loose ball on the defensive end and brought it all the way deep before hitting a cutting Kelly Oubre Jr. with a dime ( with a foul for a three-point play). In the next minute or so, he hit a sharp layup and sank two free throws. That means he scored seven points and one assist in his first three minutes on the court. This was a huge boost for the Sixers, especially considering Maxey wasn't exactly carrying the offensive load at that point in the game.

He later calmed down as Maxey took control of the game, and although Gordon's early efforts seemed to be overshadowed by Maxey's turnaround, Gordon was a reason the Sixers didn't fall behind big before halftime.

Caleb Martin: 17 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal

Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images

Martin was the only starter who seemed ready for the start of this competition. While his teammates struggled to get anything going, Martin took his chance to improve. He aggressively drove to the rim and drew fouls to get to the line and scored six points in the first frame, keeping the Sixers afloat alongside Eric Gordon at that point in the game. Martin chipped in here and there offensively throughout, including grabbing a ball that Andre Drummond had kicked loose on defense and finishing it with the clutch layup on the other side, giving the Sixers 32 seconds gained a lead before the end. He finished the game with 17 points (second in scoring for the Sixers… but admittedly a removed second). He was also good on the glass with twelve rebounds and four on offense.

(Martin did Intentional foul on Tyrese Halliburton, who thought the Sixers still had a lead of three when they were only ahead by two with just seconds left in overtime. Luckily, Halliburton missed both and saved Martin. Next time you need to be more aware of this.)

Andre Drummond: 9 points, 17 rebounds (5 offensive), 1 assist, 2 steals

Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images

Drummond was absolutely magnificent in the biggest moments of this film. He was, as always, great on the glass, grabbing 17 rebounds on Sunday, including five that kept possession going on offense. He also took advantage of some easy basket opportunities and scored nine points himself. Despite some previous defensive issues and mistakes, Drummond was able to settle in on that side of the field and the game continued. Near the end of regulation time, he had two huge steals on consecutive defensive plays that gave the Sixers the lead at that point. The only thing that stopped these plays from clinching the regulation win was Tyrese Haliburton's ridiculous last-gasp three-pointer that sent us into overtime.

Guerschon Yabusele: 6 rebounds (5 offensive), 4 assists, 1 steal

This is probably more praise than an actual Bell Ringer contender, as Yabusele had a tough night shooting and didn't score a single point. But that doesn't mean he didn't do a lot of things right. Yabusele is a hard-working guy, and one that the Sixers have seemingly desperately needed for season after season. He single-handedly revived several possessions that were all but dead by making the effort to fight for strong offensive boards.

Below is a particular favorite of mine. Yabusele is sandwiched between two defenders and has no realistic chance of getting the first rebound, but stays in the game to fight with them for the loose ball, keeping it from going out of bounds, ultimately leading to a triple from Maxey.

I never get tired of giving flowers to players for games like this.