Joel Embiid extends 30-point streak, Sixers pull away from Hornets to clinch fifth consecutive win
In a clunky performance, the Sixers topped the Charlotte Hornets, 97-89, on their second night of a back-to-back road trip.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With primary defender P.J. Washington Jr. already fouled out, Joel Embiid easily rose up for the jumper over Miles Bridges.
The shot fell to give the Sixers a double-digit advantage with less than three minutes to go, helping them overcome a clunky performance on the second night of a back-to-back to top the Hornets, 97-89, Saturday night at the Spectrum Center.
It was quite the flip from when the Sixers were last in the building about a month ago, when they handed the lowly Hornets a 53-point drubbing to mark their ugliest defeat in franchise history. Saturday night, the Sixers needed to overcome a four-point deficit to begin the final period, after Bridges buried a three-pointer with seven seconds remaining in the third.
The Sixers began the fourth on an 13-2 spurt, taking an 82-75 lead on a Danuel House Jr. three-pointer followed by two Tobias Harris free throws with less than nine minutes remaining. After Embiid’s jumper, which helped him finish with 33 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists, a three-pointer by Nico Batum pushed the Sixers’ advantage to a game-high 95-82 with one minute to go.
Still, the unexpected squeaker was the Sixers’ fifth victory in a row, and pushed their record to 28-13 at the regular season’s midway point. They are in third place in the Eastern Conference standings, moving within a half-game of the second-place Milwaukee Bucks with Saturday’s victory.
Saturday’s win also extended Embiid’s streak of 30-point games to 20. The NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player quickly took advantage of the matchup with the undersized Washington and Nathan Mensah, maneuvering around and through them to score 15 first-quarter points while going 7-of-7 from the free-throw line in that frame. He had reached 20 points by halftime, then surpassed 30 points on a soft jumper that gave the Sixers an 88-80 lead with about three minutes to go.
Though the Sixers briefly built an 11-point second quarter lead — when Embiid baited contact on a made jumper for the old-fashioned three-point play to make the score 46-35 — the Hornets (9-31) were within striking distance until the final minutes.
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Embiid and Maxey (16 points) combined for 32 of the 46 first-half points for the Sixers, who shot 2-for-11 from three-point range before the break. There was a clear objective to get complementary starters Harris (21 points, five rebounds, and six assists) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (five points, eight rebounds), who scored five points apiece in the third quarter’s opening minutes), more involved coming out of the locker room. House (nine points, three rebounds) was an off-the-bench spark throughout, with a high-flying dunk and key fourth-quarter block while playing down the stretch.
The Sixers will next host the San Antonio Spurs, and rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama, on Monday. They will then embark on their longest road trip of the season to Indiana (Thursday), Denver (Saturday), Portland (Jan. 29), Golden State (Jan. 30), and Utah (Feb. 1).