Embiid helps 76ers break losing streak
Joel Embiid had 31 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists and hit a key jumper late to help the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Houston Rockets 118-113 on Wednesday night.
Seth Curry scored 25 points and Tobias Harris added 24 for the Eastern Conference-leading 76ers, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Ben Simmons (illness) didn’t play for the 76ers a game after scoring a career-high 42 points and adding nine rebounds and 12 assists.
Houston, playing without injured starters P.J. Tucker and Victor Oladipo, has lost seven in a row. DeMarcus Cousins and Jae’Sean Tate had 19 points each and Eric Gordon contributed 17.
WIZARDS 130, NUGGETS 128 >> Bradley Beal made two free throws with a tenth of a second left to give the Washington Wizards their third straight victory over the Denver Nuggets. Davis Bertans had career highs with nine 3-pointers and 35 points,
BULLS 105, PISTONS 102 Zach LaVine scored 37 points and the Chicago Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons on short notice.
The Bulls were scheduled to visit Charlotte, with the Pistons at Dallas. Those games got called off Tuesday by the NBA because of COVID-19 contact tracing concerns with the Hornets and power outages in Texas. The Bulls and Pistons were then scheduled to play each other, instead.
MAGIC 107, KNICKS 89 >> Terrence Ross scored 18 of his season-high 30 points in the second half, and the Orlando Magic used a decisive thirdquarter run to beat the New York Knicks.
Orlando went on a 25-8 run over the final nine minutes of the third quarter and outscored New York 30-14 to wipe out a three-point halftime deficit. The Knicks’ season-best three-game winning streak ended.
HAWKS 122, CELTICS 114 >> Trae Young had 40 points and eight assists, and the Atlanta Hawks snapped a four-game losing streak with a victory over the Boston Celtics.
Clint Capela finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds to help Atlanta earn its first victory over Boston since April 8, 2018, ending a seven-game losing streak. John Collins added 20 points and six rebounds.
Tatum had 35 points for Celtics, who have lost five out of seven.
WIZARDS’ SMITH OUT FOR SIX TO EIGHT WEEKS >> The Washington Wizards will be without guard Ish Smith for possibly the next two months, the team said.
Smith (right quad) was ruled out for six to eight weeks due to the injury, the club said in a statement. Smith was injured in a loss to the New York Knicks on Friday.
Freshman Evan Mobley had 22 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, and No. 17 USC beat Arizona State 89-71 on Wednesday night in Los Angeles to stay atop the Pac-12.
Sophomore Isaiah Mobley, Evan’s brother, added 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Tahj Eaddy had 18 points for the Trojans, who improved to 18-3 to start a season for the first time since 1973-74. They’re 12-2 in conference and have won 13 of 14 overall.
Pac-12 scoring leader Remy Martin scored 30 points — three off his career high — for Arizona State (7-10, 4-7). Kimani Lawrence added 12 points and Jalen Graham had 10 before fouling out.
The Mobley brothers dominated the first 10 minutes of the second half, helping USC stretch a two-point halftime lead into its first double-digit advantage of the game.
They combined to outscore Arizona State 18-10 on their own, extending the lead to 64-54. Evan Mobley sank a 3-pointer from the top of the key, then stole the ball from Martin and outsprinted John Olmstead down the floor for a rim-rattling dunk.
Isaiah Mobley wasn’t to be outdone by his younger brother. He scored five straight points. With two defenders converging on Evan, he passed to Isaiah, who dunked and got fouled. Evan Mobley dunked again with Graham on his back and then he passed to Isaiah inside for a basket that finished off the brothers’ scoring binge.
Even when the Sun Devils managed to tie up the Mobleys, they passed to teammates who got the job done. Ethan Anderson, Max Agbonkpolo and Drew Peterson hit three consecutive 3-pointers that pushed the Trojans’ lead to 73-62.
The Mobleys engineered another offensive burst in the game’s closing minutes. They combined for eight straight points, highlighted by Evan’s onehanded jam after ducking around two defenders. Eaddy’s 3-pointer capped the 11-2 run that extended USC’s lead to 87-69.
NO. 22 LOYOLA CHICAGO 54, VALPARAISO 52>> Keith Clemons scored 16 points, Cameron Krutwig added 13 and the Ramblers (19-4, 14-2 Missouri Valley Conference) made a defensive stop in the final seconds to hang on over the Brown and Gold (8-15, 5-9) in Chicago. The Ramblers have won 12 of 13 and extended their home winning streak to 20 games.
NO. 23 KANSAS 59, KANSAS STATE 41>> Marcus Garrett scored 14 points, Jalen Wilson added 11 and the Jayhawks (16-7, 10-5 Big 12) held the host Wildcats (5-18, 1-13) to a season low in points.
WEATHER HAMPERS BIG 12, SEC GAMES >> The Big 12 and SEC called off basketball games scheduled for today due to frigid temperatures and uncommon winter conditions.
No. 9 Oklahoma and No. 12 Texas will not play today, with a makeup date
to be announced later this week. No. 15 Texas Tech and TCU, also postponed Tuesday, was also scrapped by the Big 12 and is expected to be made up before the conference tournament.
Three SEC men’s games were postponed, with makeup dates not yet determined: No. 8 Alabama at Texas A&M, LSU at Ole Miss, and Mississippi State at Auburn.
The postponement of the Alabama game makes it five straight games called off for the Aggies. The first four were because of COVID-19 issues.
IN A WOMEN’S GAME ...
NO. 1 UCONN 77, ST. JOHN’S
Christyn Williams scored 21 points and Paige Bueckers added 20 to help the Huskies (17-1, 14-0 Big East) cruise past the Red Stomr (6-12, 3-9) in New York. UConn moved up to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 on Monday for the first time this season.