McCaffery: Why Embiid is always ready to play for 76ers

PHILADELPHIA » Joel Embiid shook off a sprained right hand that nearly kept him out of the lineup to score 21 points, grab 11 rebounds and lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 112-106 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.

The Sixers snapped a 12-game losing streak to the Spurs. They needed all 35 minutes from Embiid to knock off short-handed San Antonio.

Embiid suffered the injury in a hard fall Saturday against the Suns. Philadelphia’s leading scorer and rebounder sat as his locker before the game and said his hand was swollen and he couldn’t shoot.

Embiid used a soft touch to sink a couple of shots during pregame drills, and that was enough to convince the Sixers he could play through the injury.

The Sixers blew a 16-point lead and might have been thumped from the outset had the Spurs not sat five players.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich benched Manu Ginobili, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker and Rudy Gay with his team playing the second of back-to-back games.

Ben Simmons put the Sixers ahead 106-103 on a goaltended basket and free throw. JJ Redick buried a long jumper — with an assist from Embiid — and Simmons shook the rim with a dunk that brought the fans to their feet and sealed the win.

Coach Brett Brown had all but ruled out Embiid before the game.

“When you see it, you see the bruising on his palm,” Brown said. “When you go back and look at how he fell, you’re surprised that’s all it is. It’s a club hand. And it’s his shooting hand.”

The Sixers had been used to playing without their cornerstone center. He missed his first two seasons with foot injuries and was limited to 31 games last season. He’s missed nine of Philadelphia’s 37 games this season.

“If you told us ... he was going to play this amount of games and minutes, we’d all be quite pleased,” Brown said.

Embiid had a hand in the 76ers’ fast start.

He grabbed a rebound and had a putback basket for the first score of the game and had six points and six rebounds in the first quarter.

He slammed home an alley-oop in the third and never even looked at his hand as he sank a free throw to finish the play.

Simmons foils Spurs’ hacking strategy in Sixers’ win

MATT SLOCUM — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The 76ers’ Joel Embiid (21) goes up for a shot against San Antonio’s Davis Bertans (42) during the first half on Wednesday.

MATT SLOCUM — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The 76ers’ Ben Simmons (25) goes up for a dunk during the second half against the Spurs on Wednesday. Simmons scored 26 points, shooting 10-for-15 from the line, in the Sixers’ win.