Embiid scores 42, is clutch at the line

Joel Embiid stepped to the freethrow line with one thought in mind in critical moments of the Philadelphia 76ers’ overtime win over the Charlotte Hornets.

“Got to make them,” Embiid said. “They call me ‘clutch’ for a reason, so got to make them.”

Embiid was 14 for 16 from the line between the fourth quarter and overtime to help ice the 76ers’ 133-132 victory Friday night. He had 42 points and 18 rebounds.

The Hornets fought back from a 21-point deficit and led by five with 1:18 left in regulation before the Sixers forced extra time. Kemba Walker scored 19 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter for the Hornets.

Embiid thrives on getting to the line where he is shooting 81.8%, up from 76.9% last season.

“Our bigs were great,” Hornets coach James Borrego said. “They battled him. I thought they were fantastic defensively. They tried to beat him to spots. I don’t know what to tell them when Embiid shoots 16 free throws in the fourth quarter and overtime.”

The Sixers improved to 7-0 at home, the most home wins to start the season since 2002-03.

at Utah 123, Boston 115: Joe Ingles matched his career high with 27 points and added a season-high seven assists. Gordon Hayward had 13 points and seven assists in his first game back in Utah.

Brooklyn 112, at Denver 110: Caris LeVert hit a floater in the lane with three-tenths of a second left as the Nets scored the last six points to win their third straight. The Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic had a season-high 37 points and tied his career best with 21 rebounds.

at Sacramento 121, Minnesota 110:

Willie Cauley-Stein had 25 points to drop the Timberwolves to 0-8 on the road. Karl-Anthony Towns had 39 points and 19 rebounds.

Indiana 110, at Miami 102: Victor Oladipo had 22 points and 10 assists, and Bojan Bogdanovic hit a go-ahead three-pointer with just under a minute left.

Detroit 124, at Atlanta 109: The Pistons’ Andre Drummond had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the 300th double-double of his career, most in the league since his rookie season of 2012-13.

at Orlando 117, Washington 108:

Nikola Vucevic had 21 points and 14 rebounds, and D.J. Augustin had six points, an assist and a steal after the Wizards cut a 25-point deficit to one with 2:30 remaining.