76ers’ Embiid scores 45, but exG Leaguer wins it
Joel Embiid had 45 points and 16 rebounds, Dakota Mathias’ only basket of the game was a goahead 3pointer with 26.1 seconds left and the 76ers held off the undermanned Heat 137134 in overtime in Philadelphia on Tuesday night.
Embiid had one of his best games and carried the Sixers with a perfect third quarter and clutch buckets in overtime.
Mathias, who went undrafted in 2018 and signed this season with the Sixers as a twoway G League player, got the ball from the top of the arc and buried it for the 134132 lead.
Embiid hit a pullup jumper just inside the arc with 3.3 seconds left in regulation that tied it 120120 and sent the game into overtime.
Nets 122, Nuggets 116: Kevin Durant had 34 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds, Bruce Brown made a huge contribution while starting for the absent Kyrie Irving, and host Brooklyn rallied from 18 down to beat Denver. Brown scored 16 points, including the tying and go- ahead baskets down the stretch. Nikola Jokic had 23 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for the Nuggets, who were trying to sweep a three- game road trip.
Lakers 117, Rockets 100: LeBron James scored 26 points in just more than three quarters and visiting Los Angeles did not trail in a rout. Houston’s James Harden made just 5 of 16 shots and the Rockets were outrebounded 55- 42.
Spurs 112, Thunder 102: Lonnie Walker IV had 24 points as San Antonio ended a five- game trip with four wins. Shai Gilgeous- Alexander had 20 points for Oklahoma City, 0- 4 at home but 5- 1 on the road. The Spurs had a season- low four turnovers.
Jazz 117, Cavaliers 87: Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points and visiting Utah rolled over injury- depleted Cleveland.