Embiid gets 76ers past Wizards; Simmons hurt

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Joel Embiid had 30 points and 11 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers held off the Washington Wizards 10798 on Wednesday despite losing twotime AllStar Ben Simmons to a knee injury in the third quarter.

There was no immediate word from the 76ers on the extent of Simmons’ injury, which occurred as he landed awkwardly after grabbing an offensive rebound. At the next break in the action, he walked gingerly to the locker room and did not return.

He was shown leaving the locker room in street clothes late in the fourth quarter.

Tobias Harris added 17 points for the 76ers, who pulled a game back of the Pacers for fifth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Thomas Bryant had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the fastfading Wizards, who have gone 04 since the restart.

Thunder 105, Lakers 86: Chris Paul had 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists as Oklahoma City beat poor-shooting Los Angeles. Danilo Gallinari scored 19 points and Steven Adams had 18 for the Thunder (42-25), who did not trail in their first win over the Lakers in four meetings this season. Oklahoma City pulled even with Houston for the fifth seed in the Western Conference playoff picture with five games left. LeBron James had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers (51-16), who had another possibly concerning offensive performance while dropping to 2-2 in the bubble. Los Angeles, which has clinched the top seed in the West, did not hold a lead in a game for the first time all season. The Lakers went a seasonworst 5-for-37 from beyond the arc and made only 35% of their shots overall. Los Angeles dropped 21⁄2 games behind Milwaukee for the NBA’s best overall record.

Celtics 149, Nets 115: Jaylen Brown stayed hot with 21 points on five 3-pointers, and Boston routed Brooklyn without All-Star point guard Kemba Walker (minutes restriction). Jayson Tatum added 19 points, and Gordon Hayward and Robert Williams each had 18 for the Celtics, who posted a season high in points and improved to 2-2 at Disney World. Boston shot 20-for-39 from 3-point range. Jeremiah Martin scored 20 points for the Nets. The third-place Celtics (45-23) are 41⁄2four games behind secondseeded Toronto and two games ahead of Miami.

Nuggets 132, Spurs 126: Michael Porter Jr. had 30 points and 15 rebounds, and Denver rallied in the fourth quarter. Nikola Jokic added 25 points and 11 assists. Jerami Grant finished with 22 points. San Antonio, which remained two games behind Memphis for the final playoff spot in the West, dropped to 2-2 since the restart. Rudy Gay scored 24 points and Derrick White added 23 points and seven assists for the Spurs (29-38).

Jazz 124, Grizzlies 115: Joe Ingles scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, and Utah kept Memphis winless in the NBA bubble. Mike Conley had 23 points and seven assists against his former team for the Jazz (43-25), who improved to 2-2 in the seeding round and nudged ahead of Houston (42-25) for the fourth spot in the Western Conference standings. Dillon Brooks scored 23 points, and Grayson Allen had a career-high 20 points and six 3-pointers as the Grizzlies (32-37) dropped to 0-4 in the seeding round, further endangering their chances of retaining the No. 8 seed in the West playoffs.

Raptors 109, Magic 99: Fred VanVleet had 21 points and 10 assists, Pascal Siakam added 15 points and Kyle Lowry finished with eight points, nine rebounds and 10 assists for Toronto (49-18), which has won its past seven dating back to before the hiatus and three straight games since the restart. The Magic (32-37) missed an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot following Washington’s loss to Philadelphia earlier Wednesday. But they maintained their 7½-game lead over Washington for the eighth seed with four seeding games to play. They also might be without forward Aaron Gordon for an undetermined amount of time after he left the game in the third quarter with a hamstring injury after taking a hard foul from Lowry.