Sixers triumph on Covington's bucket at finish
Joel Embiid said that Tuesday night would be "payback time." The 76ers center couldn't stop thinking about avenging the nationally televised blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves since it happened Nov. 17. He turned out to be a man of his word thanks to Robert Covington.
Joel Embiid said that Tuesday night would be "payback time."
The 76ers center couldn't stop thinking about avenging the nationally televised blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves since it happened Nov. 17. He turned out to be a man of his word thanks to Robert Covington.
After Ricky Rubio knotted the score at 91 with 1.6 seconds left, the Sixers called a 20-second timeout. Coach Brett Brown called a play for Covington streaking toward the basket. The small forward got the separation he needed after Embiid used a back screen on Andrew Wiggins. Covington scored an alley-oop layup on an inbounds pass from Dario Saric with 0.2 seconds left.
That enabled the Sixers to escape with a 93-91 victory at the Wells Fargo Center 47 days after a humiliating 24-point rout by the Timberwolves in Minnesota.
"I was able to execute it and put it in an area where I was able to score," Covington said. "That's the way we drew it up and that's how we did it yesterday at practice. We executed it to perfection."
This was the 6-foot-9, 225-pounder's first game-winner in the NBA. Struggling once again from the field, Covington was booed after most of his missed shots. However, the fourth-year veteran received huge applause after his made basket and again at the conclusion of the game.
Covington finished with 13 points on just 4-for-14 shooting. He also had 10 rebounds, four steals, two assists, one block, and two turnovers. He had a huge hand in holding Wiggins to eight points on 2-for-15 shooting. The Timberwolves small forward scored 35 points against the Sixers in November.
"Throughout the game, different guys stepped up to [guard] him and were able to follow up what I was doing as well," Covington said. "So we just set the tone. We never let them beat us the way they did last time. We took it to them."
Embiid scored 16 of his team-high 25 points in the first half. He added eight rebounds, two blocks, and three turnovers. His and Covington's efforts enabled the Sixers (9-24) to win their second consecutive game. The Timberwolves (11-24) have lost two straight and five of their last seven.
The Sixers went to their traditional starting lineup that featured Embiid at center and Ersan Ilyasova at power forward for the second straight game. Before that, they featured Embiid and Jahlil Okafor in a twin towers frontcourt for six consecutive games.
But on this night, Okafor was the third-string center behind Embiid and Nerlens Noel. Noel played well but was on the court for only 11 minutes, 16 seconds.
The 6-11, 232-pounder scored all of his eight points on 4-for-5 shooting during a stretch of 4:45 in the first quarter. Three of his baskets came on dunks, with two on alley-oop passes from point guard T.J. McConnell.
Noel was also paired with Embiid for 3:15 in the second quarter. The two played well together and even graded out at a plus-one. However, Noel did not see any action in the third quarter.
With the Sixers leading, 70-49, with 7:59 left in the quarter, Embiid was replaced by Okafor, who finished with two points. The Timberwolves responded with a 14-3 run to close the gap to 10 points with 3:11 left in the quarter.
Minnesota pulled within 84-80 on a Karl-Anthony Towns layup with 5:45 left.
The Sixers extended their lead to eight points on Saric's two foul shots and a basket by Embiid. But Rubio drained a wide-open three-pointer on an assist from Towns to knot the score at 91 with 1.6 seconds left.
That set up Covington's game-winner.
"It feels great," Embiid said of the victory. "Since the game ended last time, I had this game on my calendar.
"I thought the game should not have been close. . . . But we have been struggling to finish besides in the last two games. For us to get two games like that in a row is great."
The Sixers were without point guard Sergio Rodriguez, shooting guard Gerald Henderson, and reserve center Richaun Holmes.
Rodriguez suffered a sprained left ankle during the loss Thursday to the Jazz in Utah. He missed Friday's victory over the Nuggets in Denver.
Holmes missed his fifth straight game since suffering a concussion. Henderson exited in the fourth quarter of the Dec. 26 loss to the Kings in Sacramento with left-hip pain. He has missed three games.
Rodriguez and Holmes expect to return Friday against the Celtics in Boston.
@PompeyOnSixers
