Stellar efforts from Embiid and Harris help Sixers barely avoid embarrassing loss to undermanned Nets | Best/Worst

Well, at least this victory gave the 76ers’ sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference.

But they barely avoided an embarrassing loss to Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets’ role players Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Center. They nearly blew a 22-point, fourth-quarter lead before escaping with a 123-117 victory.

The Nets were without seven of their players, including Kevin Durant, James Harden, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Blake Griffin.

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid, Sixers earn 123-117 victory as Nets play without several stars in showdown

Here’s a look at the best and worst performances from the game.

Joel Embiid gets this. The Sixers center finished with game highs of 39 points and 13 rebounds and a co-game-high two blocks. Even though the Nets were without most of their standouts, this performance was another reason why Embiid remains a league MVP candidate despite missing 10 games with a bone bruise in his left knee.

Nets guard Joe Harris gets this for his struggles on the defensive end. He finished a game-worst minus-16 in 26 minutes, 9 seconds. Harris also had six points on 3-for-7 shooting, including going 0-for-2 on three-pointers.

The Sixers power forward Tobias Harris had two blocks and one steal to go with his 26 points.

This goes to Brooklyn’s foul shooting. The Nets made 27 of 30 free throws for a 90% success rate.

This goes to the Nets’ three-point shooting. They shot 4-for-21, 19%.

This goes to Sixers’ making this game closer than it should have been. With four starters out of the game, the team nearly blew a commanding fourth-quarter lead.

The victory also enabled the Sixers to win two of this season’s three meetings against the Nets. As a result, the Sixers hold the tiebreaker and will get the higher playoff seed if the teams finish with the same record.