When push comes to shove, 76ers prevail
Joel Embiid had 31 points, 16 rebounds and six blocked shots and passed to Mike Scott for his seventh assist and the go-ahead three with 18 seconds left as the visiting Philadelphia 76ers beat the Brooklyn Nets 112-108 on Saturday to take a 3-1 series lead.
Embiid also had a flagrant foul that led to a scuffle and two ejections during an eventful return to the lineup after missing Game 3 with a sore left knee.
Tobias Harris had 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the 76ers. They can advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals for the second straight season with a win at home Tuesday.
They got a big boost from the return of Embiid, who scored eight straight points in the fourth quarter after the Nets led by seven. He helped the 76ers overcome the loss of Jimmy Butler, who was ejected in the third quarter after Embiid’s hard foul on Jarrett Allen.
Caris LeVert scored 25 points after being inserted into the Nets’ starting lineup. D’Angelo Russell and Allen each added 21.
Jared Dudley also was inserted into the starting lineup for the Nets and had been agitating the 76ers with his defense and his talking, but was gone in the third quarter after the scuffle.
Dudley and the Nets had already been angered by Embiid, who elbowed Allen in Game 2 and was given a flagrant 1 that the Nets thought should have been a 2, which means an automatic ejection. They were further upset when he laughed afterward while apologizing during his postgame news conference.
“Yeah, for sure I sent a message,” Dudley said. “When you have a guy giving flagrant fouls — I mean, Joel Embiid is second in the league in flagrant fouls. So for that elbow he had before just to have a flagrant 1, no fine, no nothing, laughing in the media, if you think that a team that I play on is going to have that, that’s another thing coming, especially on this young team.”
Embiid swung his arm forcefully while fouling Allen, and Dudley quickly moved in and bumped Embiid. Butler then ran in and pushed Dudley to start the shoving. Dudley, Ben Simmons and referee Ed Malloy all got knocked into the seats, and after a lengthy video review, Butler and Dudley were given technical fouls and ejected, and Embiid’s foul was ruled a flagrant 1.
“I could have reacted,” Embiid said, “but I felt like my team needed me more than they needed Jared Dudley, so I’ve just got to stay cool and mature and do my job.”
Embiid came through in the clutch. The 76ers, trailing by one after Joe Harris’ layup, were trying to get the ball to him, but Embiid couldn’t control the pass under the rim. But he regained the ball and found Scott in the corner for a three and a 110-108 lead.
Allen then turned the ball over after three Sixers surrounded him and Tobias Harris closed out the scoring with two free throws.
Houston 104, at Utah 101: James Harden missed his first 14 shots before a fourthquarter dunk but still scored 22 points with 10 assists and six steals to rally the Rockets to a 3-0 series lead. Harden shot just three for 20, but was 14 for 16 from the line. Donovan Mitchell scored 34 points for the Jazz.
Denver 107, at San Antonio 103: Nikola Jokic had 29 points and 12 rebounds, Jamal Murray added 24 points and the Nuggets evened the series at two games apiece.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs. DeMar DeRozan added 19 points before he was ejected with five minutes left after arguing over an offensive foul.
“The Nuggets competed and we did not,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. “Their physicality was obvious from the get-go. You knew that was going to happen and we did not respond. So, it was a very disappointing loss.”
Milwaukee 119, at Detroit 103: Khris Middleton had 20 points and nine rebounds and the Bucks took a 3-0 series lead. Blake Griffin, who missed the first two games with a knee injury, led the Pistons with 27 points, seven rebounds and six assists.