Philly beats Knicks to end slump
PHILADELPHIA—Joel Embiid had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Ben Simmons got his second triple-double in his last three games, and the Philadelphia 76ers snapped out of a funk to beat the New York Knicks 131-109 on Wednesday night.
Simmons had 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Jimmy Butler added 20 points and Landry Shamet had a career-high 17 off the bench for the Sixers (21-12), who shot 53.4 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range.
Philadelphia had lost three of four, including a lopsided defeat in San Antonio on Monday.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 27 points and Kevin Knox had 21 for the Knicks (9-24), who have lost three straight and eight of their last nine. Emmanuel Mudiay, averaging 20 points per game in his previous nine contests, was held to 11 points on 3-of-12 shooting.
The Sixers were clicking offensively from the start, scoring 38 points on nearly 70 percent shooting in the first quarter, capped by a four-point play from Furkan Korkmaz. They led by as many as 14 in the first half and took a 69-61 lead into halftime, though the Knicks closed the half on a highlight-reel alley oop from Hardaway to Knox.
After the Knicks cut Philly’s lead to three early in the third, Embiid and Simmons had back-to-back one handed slams to get the home crowd going and help the Sixers pull away.
Hornets 110, Cavaliers 99
CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Kemba Walker had 30 points and six assists to help the Charlotte Hornets rally for a 110-99 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.
Walker was coming off a season-low four points in Saturday’s 128-100 home loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in which he shot 2 for 13 from the field and missed all five 3-point tries. After missing his first seven shots against Cleveland, Walker got untracked in time to help Charlotte even its season record to .500 (15-15).
It was Walker’s ninth 30-point game this season, and helped the Hornets snap a two-game losing streak.
Jeremy Lamb added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Marvin Williams 18 points and 10 rebounds for Charlotte.
Jordan Clarkson scored 20 points, Jaron Blossomgame had 15 and Cedi Osman added 13 for the Cavaliers.
Walker was at his best in the third quarter as the Hornets took their first lead of the game and had an 11-3 surge late in the quarter to lead 77-67.
After the Cavaliers closed to 88-82 with 8:52 left in the game, Charlotte went on a 17-4 surge to end any doubt about the game’s outcome.