Shifting 76ers defeat Wizards
Robert Covington had 25 points and 11 rebounds and Dario Saric added 20 points and 11 boards as the depleted Philadelphia 76ers beat the Washington Wizards, 120-112, Friday night at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Bradley Beal had 40 points and John Wall scored 29 for the Southeast Division-leading Wizards.
On a day the 76ers announced No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons will not play this season, their other young players stepped up to make up for the absence of star center Joel Embiid and the trades of center Nerlens Noel and forward Ersan Ilyasova.
Noel and Ilyasova were dealt before trade deadline Thursday and Embiid missed his 12th consecutive game with a left knee contusion.
Richaun Holmes had 12 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks while splitting minutes with Jahlil Okafor, a surprise holdover because he was mentioned in most trade speculation involving the 76ers.
After taking a 61-49 lead at halftime, the 76ers kept building on it in the third quarter. Holmes slammed one down off an offensive rebound to extend Philadelphia’s lead to 78-62 midway through the third period. His alley-oop slam off Sergio Rodriguez’s pass made it 95-78 later in the quarter.
But the Wizards answered with an 8-0 run to get within 95-86, only to see Philadelphia run off 13 consecutive points.
Other games
Pacers 102, Grizzlies 92: CJ Miles scored 17 points and Paul George had nine points as Indiana beat visiting Memphis.
Timberwolves 97, Mavericks 84: Karl-Anthony Towns had 26 points and 18 rebounds to help Minnesota beat visiting Dallas.
Heat 108, Hawks 90: Reserve Tyler Johnson came through with 23 points to lead visiting Miami past Atlanta.
Thunder 110, Lakers 93: Russell Westbrook recorded his 28th triple-double of the season, finishing with 17 points, 18 rebounds and 17 assists in 35 minutes as Oklahoma City beat visiting Los Angeles.
Jazz 109, Bucks 95: Gordon Hayward scored 29 points and Derrick Favors added 19 as Utah won in Milwaukee by dominating the paint.
Raptors 107, Celtics 97: DeMar DeRozan scored 43 points to rally host Toronto from a 17-point first-half deficit to beat Boston.
Bulls 128, Suns 121: Dwyane Wade scored 23 points as host Chicago beat Phoenix in overtime.
Nuggets 129, Nets 109: Gary Harris scored 25 points to help Denver defeat visiting Brooklyn.