Harden, Maxey and Embiid propel 76ers over the Nets
James Harden hit two 3-pointers and had a driving layup in the final four minutes against his former Brooklyn teammates and the host Philadelphia 76ers stretched their winning streak to six games, outscoring the Nets 137-133 on Wednesday night.
Tyrese Maxey led the 76ers with 27 points, and Joel Embiid had 26. Harden added 23, and Philadelphia was 35 of 36 from the foul line.
Seth Curry had a season-high 32 points for Brooklyn. Kyrie Irving had 30 for the Nets, who have lost five of the last seven games without Kevin Durant.
The game was the first regularseason matchup between Embiid and former teammate Ben Simmons since a February 2022 trade that sent Simmons to Brooklyn for Harden. Simmons missed the rest of the 2022 season with various injuries, then Embiid was injured and missed the Sixers' win in Simmons' Philadelphia return Nov. 22.
The night started with Simmons matched up on the defensive end against Embiid, who decided to change from his traditional shot facing the basket and muscle down low. Through the night, there were exchanges of words and stares between the two — including right before the start of the second half. It carried through the rest of the rosters, with six technical fouls called.
MAGIC 126, PACERS 120 >> Paolo Banchero scored 23 points and Garry Harris made all six of his 3-point shots and added 22 points as host Orlando held off a late rally and beat Indiana. Bennedict Mathurin came off the Pacers' bench to score 26 points for the second straight game, and Myles Turner added 22 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, which was coming off a 116110 win over Chicago a night earlier. Buddy Hield hit his first five 3-point shots and finished with 21 points. Wendell Carter Jr. had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic. Orlando made 15 of 28 attempts from 3-point range and shot 56% overall.
HAWKS 137, THUNDER 132 >> Trae Young had 33 points and 11 assists, helping visiting Atlanta beat Oklahoma City. Dejounte Murray scored 21 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 20 for the Hawks, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 36 points and Jalen Williams added 24 for the Thunder. Williams stole the ball from Young and dunked to cut Atlanta's lead to 133-132 with 15.3 seconds left. Atlanta's John Collins was fouled with 14.5 seconds remaining. He made both free throws to make it 135-132.
BUCKS 107, NUGGETS 99 >> Giannis Antetokounmpo had 33 points and 14 rebounds as host Milwaukee defeated short-handed Denver. The Western Conference-leading Nuggets were missing four usual starters in two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic (left hamstring tightness), Jamal Murray (left knee/injury management), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (sprained right wrist) and Michael Porter Jr. (personal reasons). Aaron Gordon had 26 points and 13 rebounds for the Nuggets. Bones Hyland added 15 points. Milwaukee's Bobby Portis missed his first game this season and will be out at least two weeks with an MCL sprain.
WIZARDS 108, ROCKETS 103 >> Kyle Kuzma scored 20 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter to help visiting Washington rally for a victory. The Wizards trailed by as many 19 points and were down by 10 to open the fourth quarter before Kuzma took over. Houston's Alperen Sengun had 21 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his second career triple-double. Jalen Green had 19 points on 6 of 19 shooting after scoring a career-high 42 points Tuesday night against Minnesota in a win that snapped a 13-game skid. TIMBERWOLVES 111, PELICANS 102
>> Anthony Edwards scored 37 points, Rudy Gobert had 17 points and 12 rebounds in his return from a groin injury, and visiting Minnesota spoiled Brandon Ingram's return from a two-month absence. D'Angelo Russell scored 19 points for the Timberwolves, who've won three of four. Ingram, who had not played since Nov. 25 and had missed 29 games with a left toe injury, scored 13 points but struggled with his shot, missing 14 of 18, including all six attempts from deep. CJ McCollum scored 25 points, and Jonas Valanciunas added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Pelicans.