During the Wednesday night NBA slate, Joel Embiid scored 29 points, including the 10,000th of his career, and the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 118-112.
The 76ers put away the game by making 13 straight free throws after watching a 28-point lead shrink to four with 90 seconds left in the second half.
“That’s a pretty good team over there that will give other teams trouble,” Embiid said. “Obviously, we knew they would make a run. But they got the stops when we needed to.”
A fourth straight win for the 76ers was aided by 19 points and 12 assists from James Harden. Tyrese Maxey scored 16 points and De’Anthony Melton added 18 points.
“To win that game despite the adversity was good for us,” Maxey said.
NBA SCORES & NEWS: Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers & Cleveland Cavaliers Updates
For the Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points, including 25 in the second half. The team had won seven straight games before being defeated by the 76ers in this contest. Among Cleveland’s scorers were Darius Garland with 27 points, and Evan Mobley with 23.
“We allowed them to put a little bit of doubt in our minds early, but we figured it out,” Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said.
Due to lingering left foot soreness, which has been officially reported to the 76ers’ injury report since late December when the club was on its trip to the West Coast, Embiid — who is scheduled to start the All-Star Game on Sunday night — may not be able to make it to the game.
According to Embiid, getting off the foot was necessary to prevent the injury from worsening.
“I was trying to get the All-Star Break without missing games” Embiid said. “But I think that I may have reached the point where I need to follow the doctors advice. We’ll see how the next few days go.”
In the first quarter, Embiid passed the 10,000 point mark for his career. With 373 games played, he became the fastest player in franchise history, surpassing Allen Iverson with 378 games played.
“I can only think what if I didn’t miss all these games, but that’s not where the focus is,” Embiid said. “I’m just focused on what I can do to help the team. Whether it is scoring a lot, passing, defensively- then I’m going to do it.”
NBA SCORES & NEWS: Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers & Cleveland Cavaliers Updates
The 76ers started the game with six 3-pointers and made 11 of its 14 shots from the field to jump out to an early 31-10 lead. Philadelphia led by 28 early after the break, but as a result of moving the ball around and forcing turnovers, Cleveland rallied back in a hurry. In the second half, the Cavaliers forced nine turnovers, converting them into 20 points.
“They did a great job of physically out of our stuff,” Bickerstaff said. “They were aggressive on both ends of the floor and it took us too long to recover from that first punch. We showed what we are capable of in the second half with 17 assists and just one turnover.”
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