EMBIID HITS WINNER IN PHILADELPHIA’S COMEBACK WIN
Joel Embiid made a fadeaway jumper from the foul line with 1.1 seconds left to give the Philadelphia 76ers a 120-119 comeback victory over the visiting Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.
Embiid scored 39 points, shaking off a double-team from Jusuf Nurkic and Damian Lillard on the winner. The basket gave Philadelphia its first lead of the game they trailed by 21 points late in the first half.
Portland’s last-second after a timeout was tipped away on the inbound play, with Lillard’s shot coming after the horn.
“To be able to come back in a game like that, when you are down one, you have to make those plays,” Embiid said.
James Harden added 19 points for Philadelphia despite struggling from the floor. Tyrese Maxey and DeAnthony Melton each had 13 to help the 76ers win their fourth straight game.
Anfernee Simons led Portland with 34 points on 8of-12 shooting from 3-point range. Jeremi Grant had 24 points and Lillard 22.
Lakers 122, Raptors 112: D’Angelo Russell had 28 points and nine assists in his dynamic return from a sixgame injury absence, Dennis Schroder added 23 points and seven assists and host Los Angeles won for the seventh time in nine games.
Austin Reaves scored 18 points while Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt added 16 apiece as the Lakers extended their impressive recent
surge even with little contribution this time from Anthony Davis. The superstar big man had only eight points and nine rebounds while struggling against Toronto’s defense, but Russell
and his teammates took charge before Davis sealed the win on his only field goal of the second half with 46 seconds to play.
Heat 119, Cavaliers 115: Jimmy Butler scored 33 points, Tyler Herro added 25 and host Miami rallied from a 14-point, second-half deficit to beat Cleveland.
Bam Adebayo scored 19 points and Max Strus had 14 for the Heat, who split a twogame home set with the Cavaliers.
Donovan Mitchell led all scorers with 42 points for Cleveland.
Spurs 128, Nuggets 120: Keldon Johnson scored 23 points and San Antonio overcame 37 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists by Nikola Jokic to stun visiting Denver.
Doug McDermott added 20 points and Jeremy Sochan had 19 points for San Antonio, which shot 54 percent in a balanced effort with their entire roster available for one of only a few times in an injury-riddled season.
It was Jokic’s 26th tripledouble in what could be his third straight MVP season.
Hawks 114, Wizards 107: Trae Young scored 28 points, including a key 3-pointer with 1:17 remaining that helped Atlanta win at Washington.
The Hawks won in Washington for the second time in three days in what could be a preview of a play-in round matchup in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta is in eighth place, and the Wizards are a half-game up on Chicago for 10th.
Nets 124, Timberwolves 123 (OT): Mikal Bridges scored 34 points, Spencer Dinwiddie came up with a final stop and visiting Brooklyn outlasted the Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime.
Dinwiddie blocked Mike Conley 3-point attempt as time expired.
Dinwiddie had 29 points and 11 assists.