Philadelphia moves to 10-0 at home
PHILADELPHIA — James Ennis III hit a 3 and dropped for three pushups, celebratory calisthenics in an early run in which the 76ers flexed their offensive muscle
“I wanted to get a little workout in,” Ennis said.
Ennis passed the fitness test and Tobias Harris scored 26 points to keep Philadelphia perfect at home with a 103-94 win over the Utah Jazz on Monday night.
Al Horford scored 17 points to help the Sixers win for the eighth time in nine games and improve to 10-0 at home. A night after the Raptors led the Jazz by 40 points at halftime, the Sixers led by a more modest 18 points at the break — a cushion needed late to secure the win against Utah.
“We say every game before we get out there to protect our house,” Harris said. “Our crowd, our energy, our atmosphere, it’s real.”
Ennis, Philly’s super sub, had the crowd going wild in the first half when he was fouled on a 3 and did three quick pushups to stretch the lead to 26 points. Ennis missed the free throw but it hardly mattered at home. The Sixers made 13 3s and have started to play more like a team expected to contend for an Eastern Conference title than one that slogged through a 2-5 stretch in mid-November.
“It’s in the moment,” Ennis said. “I didn’t mean nothing by it. And one.”
Horford did his part, scoring five baskets in the first quarter for 12 points, to go with one ridiculous block. Bojan Bogdanovic took a turnover the other way and went straight down the middle for a layup attempt, when a hustling Horford caught up from the right and twisted his body for the rejection.
They blocked, they exercised, they alley-ooped.
Matisse Thybulle turned a steal into an alley-oop dunk for Ben Simmons and Harris came right back for a 3 that made it 52-27, a game the Sixers had in control until a late push by the Jazz got them within single digits.
“It’s nice until they make a run,” Simmons said. “They’re always going to fight.”
Rudy Gobert led the Jazz with 27 points.
The glaring blemish for the 76ers was another off-night for All-Star center Joel Embiid. Four games after Embiid went scoreless (0 for 11) against Toronto, he scored 16 points on just 5-of-13 shooting. Embiid played 29 minutes and continued to defy the load management expectations that had been set in recent seasons for the oft-injured big man. He looked gassed at the end of the fourth, right when the Jazz made a push to close within 10 with 4 minutes left. Joel Engles made it 99-92 on a 3-pointer with 57 seconds left to make it a bit uneasy for the Sixers before it dragged to its inevitable conclusion.
“There’s a lot of teams, I think, in that situation that wouldn’t have responded the way this team did,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said.
Hawks 104, Warriors 79
ATLANTA — Trae Young scored 24 points, rookie De’Andre Hunter added 18 and the Atlanta Hawks snapped a 10-game losing streak with a 104-79 win over the Golden State Warriors on Monday night in a matchup of teams with the worst records in the NBA.
The Warriors (4-18) finished with a season low in points (4-18). It was the lowest point total allowed by the Hawks (5-16).
Golden State dressed just nine players, even with center Kevon Looney returning to action after missing 19 games with a nerve condition.
Rookie Eric Paschall led Golden State with 24 points, but his teammates combined to shoot 24 of 72, and the Warriors were slowed by 25 turnovers, which the Hawks converted into 25 points. The Warriors were missing Draymond Green, DeAngelo Russell and Stephen Curry, among others.
The Hawks expanded a ninepoint halftime lead to 76-53 in the third quarter when Vince Carter hit a 3-pointer with 1:09 left in the period.
Golden State carried the action over most of the first quarter. But Hunter rallied the Hawks, scoring six consecutive points early in the second quarter, giving Atlanta the lead for good on a pair of jumpers and a couple free throws.
Hunter scored 13 of his 18 points in the first half. He left the game midway through the fourth quarter with what appeared to be a wrist injury.
Suns 109, Hornets 104
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It didn’t matter to Kelly Oubre Jr. that he missed his first seven shots from beyond the arc.
Oubre learned a long time ago how important it is to keep on shooting.
Oubre made his last two 3s, both coming in the final 55 seconds, and finished with 23 points as the Phoenix Suns overcame a seven-point deficit in the final minute to beat the Charlotte Hornets 109104 Monday night.
“I was 0 for 7 at the time, but I just knew I could shoot the ball,” Oubre said. “I knew if I kept at it with the right mechanics they would fall.”
Oubre said he’s worked tirelessly on his jump shot, eager to prove he can be a consistent 3-point shooter.
“People say that is one of my flaws,” Oubre said. “They say I can be a more consistent jump shooter. But at the end of the day, I am getting better.”
Devin Booker added 23 points and Dario Saric had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Suns, who snapped a three-game skid.
Marvin Williams led the Hornets with a season-high 22 points. Devonte Graham finished with 15 points and 12 assists but was just 1 of 10 from beyond the 3-point arc and had four turnovers, including a big one late in the game.
The Suns led by 20 at the break but squandered that lead and trailed by five in the final minute. That’s when Oubre knocked down back-to-back 3s to put the Suns ahead with 19.8 seconds left.
The Hornets were setting up for the potential winning shot when P.J. Washington’s handoff went off Graham’s leg with Oubre defending the play. Ricky Rubio added two free thows to push the lead to 107-104.
Graham had a chance to tie it but airballed a shot from the top of the key with 9 seconds left.