Embiid nets 37 as Sixers scorch Lakers
LOS ANGELES — Joel Embiid scored 37 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the host Philadelphia 76ers to a 143-120 victory Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers.
It was the 23rd game for Embiid this season with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds, the most such games by any Philadelphia player since Charles Barkley had 27 in 1987-88.
Tobias Harris added 22 points and JJ Redick had 21 for the Sixers, who won their second game in a row.
Kyle Kuzma led the Lakers with 39 points while JaVale McGee added 21 points and 13 rebounds. Brandon Ingram also had 19. LeBron James contributed 18 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists.
Kuzma was electrifying in the first quarter with 23 points as L.A. pulled ahead 40-39. It was the most points scored in a single quarter for Kuzma in his brief career, and the most by any Laker since Kobe Bryant also had 23 in the first against the Memphis Grizzlies in March 2008.
Harris kept the Sixers close by hitting his first six shots and finishing with 14 points in the opening period.
The Sixers reeled off a late 17-2 run to take a 76-67 lead into the locker room at halftime. Embiid poured in 25 points by halftime as the Sixers surged ahead by nine.
Philadelphia’s new-look offense stayed hot throughout the third quarter as it built a 15-point advantage. Backup point guard T.J. McConnell knocked down a 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds remaining for a 109-94 lead.
Kuzma scored 10 straight L.A. points late in the third and was up to 37 for the game but the Lakers still trailed by 15.
Sixers reserve forward Mike Scott made back-to-back buckets early in the fourth as the Sixers moved ahead 116-96.
James hit a jumper and the Lakers got within 120-108 with 6:58 remaining.
Ben Simmons converted a pair of free throws, Furkan Korkmaz scored off an offensive rebound and a 7-0 spurt put the Sixers back ahead comfortably at 127-108.
It was more than enough of a cushion to win again at home.
DONCIC RALLIES MAVERICKS PAST TRAIL BLAZERS
Rookie sensation Luka Doncic is gaining the reputation as one of the league’s best clutch performers and he did it again Sunday with 28 points, five coming in the decisive final 2:27 to give the Dallas Mavericks a 102-101 comeback win against the visiting Portland Trail Blazers.
Doncic scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, a stanza in which Dallas trailed 96-81 with 10:43 to go in the game. Portland built that lead on Damian Lillard’s incredible 21-point third quarter, all of which came in the final 5:19 of the quarter after Dallas came back from a 10-point halftime deficit to tie the game at 67.
Lillard, who started the game two of 11 from the field but finished with 30 points on 10-of-23 shooting, made eight consecutive shots, including five 3-pointers for a 92-78 lead after three quarters, and it seemed the Trail Blazers were going to pick up a big road win with a date at Oklahoma City coming up Monday night.
But Doncic, who scored 13 of the final 19 points of the game, and his retooled Mavs consisting of three former bench role players in the starting lineup, had other plans.
Dallas increased its defensive intensity and held Portland scoreless for seven minutes of the fourth quarter and limited the Blazers to just nine points, marking the first time Portland lost this season in 34 games when it led after three quarters.
Newcomer Tim Hardaway Jr., acquired in the deal with the New York Knicks along Kristaps Porzingis, scored 24 points on nineof-18 shooting. Dwight Powell had 13 points off the bench and Dorian Finney-Smith added 11 points and six rebounds.
Early on, the Trail Blazers’ bench sparked a 20-1 run and Jusuf Nurkic was having his way inside. He finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, but fouled out with about three minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
Portland got little else from its starting lineup with CJ McCollum finishing with 14 points on 6-of-17 shooting. Maurice Harkless and Al-Farouq Aminu combined for just seven points on three-of-10 shooting.
MAGIC CRUISE PAST HAWKS FOR SECOND STRAIGHT ROAD WIN Center Nikola Vucevic scored 19 points to lead seven Orlando players in double figures, and the Magic completed a back-toback road sweep by drubbing the Atlanta Hawks 124-108 on Sunday.
Vucevic was eight of 13 from the field and added 12 rebounds. The Magic also got 18 points from Terrence Ross, 17 each from Jonathan Isaac and Evan Fournier, 14 points from D.J. Augustin and 12 from Aaron Gordon, who played despite a sore back, along with 10 from Wes Iwundu.
Augustin played a flawless floor game, handing out 10 assists and not committing a turnover.
The Magic, fresh from a 20-point win over the Eastern Conference-leading Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, showed no lack of energy in the runaway win. Orlando shot 47.3% from the floor, threw in 13 3-pointers and won their second straight, their fourth victory in five games.
Orlando is now 12-10 in back-to-back sets. The Magic are 8-3 on the first game and 4-7 on the second game. It’s the first time Orlando has won back-to-back road games since April 2014.
It was the third straight loss for Atlanta, the second straight on its seven-game homestand. Atlanta dropped to 4-10 on back-to-backs. Atlanta has lost five straight home games.
Atlanta’s John Collins played despite a sore right knee and finished with 15 points and four rebounds. The Hawks also got 16 points from Alex Len, 15 points from Kevin Huerter and 13 points and seven assists from Trae Young. —