Sixers cap season’s first half with 131-123 OT victory over Jazz

Doc Rivers’ coaching resume includes being the NBA’s 10th winningest coach, an NBA champion and a Coach of the Year Award.

He’s seen a lot of scenarios and situations in 22 seasons of leading NBA teams. So he was asked what he was looking for from the 76ers before Wednesday’s contest against the Utah Jazz, the final game before the All-Star break for both teams.

“A win,” the Sixers coach responded with laughter before the 131-123 overtime win at the Wells Fargo Center. “Honestly, I don’t know if I look for anything, one or the other. You know, it’s just another game in a long season.”

But he noted that it’s typically a hard game for both teams. That’s because it’s a mental game. Guys are usually making plans to get out of town and enjoy a brief vacation.

“We want to make sure they leave after the game, not before the game I guess,” Rivers said.

He didn’t have that problem.

Joel Embiid finished with a game-high 40 points, 19 rebounds and two blocked shots in what was supposed to be his stiffest head-to-head battle of the season. Tobias Harris, after missing the last two games with a right knee bruise, scored 11 of his 22 points in the overtime session.

» READ MORE: Overtime thriller against Jazz is a microcosm of these first-half Sixers | David Murphy

However, this game had some controversy.

Royce O’Neale appeared to steal a Harris pass and inbound it to a teammate with 28 seconds left in regulation and the Jazz leading 116-113. But he was called for stepping out of bounds. The play was reviewed at the replay center in Secaucus, N.J, where the call stood.

“The initial call on the floor was that Royce O’Neale tipped the ball and then it hit the official who was standing out of bounds,” said Jason Phillips, the NBA’s vice president of replay operation. “So by rule, before Royce O’Neale never attempts to save the ball, the ball was already out of bounds and that was the initial ruling.

“When the officials came to replay, we confirmed that ruling of Philadelphia basketball.”

Harris quickly responded with a layup to close the gap to one point (116-115) with 23 seconds left. Then Embiid knotted the score at 118 with a three-pointer with 6.5 seconds left, forcing overtime.

“I’m never ever one to blame the refs, but this is getting out of hand,” Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell said. “We’re nice, we don’t complain, we fight through things. That fact that we continually get screwed.

“We won this game in my personal opinion.”

He wasn’t done.

“It’s getting (expletive) ridiculous that this is what’s happening,” he added. “I’m sick of it, we all are. … It eats at me, man. It’s really, really, really getting out of hand. The league needs to do something about this.”

Wednesday’s game was a rarity as both teams with the best records in their respective conferences met in both their final games before the All-Star break.

The Sixers remain a half-game ahead of the Brooklyn Nets at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. The Nets were facing the Houston Rockets Wednesday night. The Jazz are three games ahead of the Western Conference’s second-place Phoenix Suns.

This game also featured two of the league’s elite centers in All-Stars Embiid and Utah’s Rudy Gobert.

Gobert has had recent success against Embiid, but Wednesday night was different as Embiid made 14 of 27 shots. The Jazz center finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.

While Embiid dominated, the Jazz did what they do best: Rain threes.

The team that leads the league with made three-pointers and is third in three-point percentage made 21 of 44 for the game. The Jazz kept answering the Sixers’ rally with timely baskets.

» READ MORE: As Doc Rivers sees it, Ben Simmons is the frontrunner for NBA Defensive Player of the Year

Embiid started off strong, scoring 12 points in the first quarter on 5-for-7 shooting while being guarded by Gobert and Derrick Favors.

However, the Jazz shot 59.1% from the field and made 6 of 10 three-pointers en route to taking a 34-26 lead into the second quarter.

Utah extended its lead to 43-30 with Mike Conley’s three-pointer with 9 minutes, 7 seconds left in the second quarter. At that point, the Jazz made 7 of 11 three-pointers compared to the Sixers’ 1 of 5.

The Sixers pulled within five points (52-47) on Harris’ layup with 3:03 before intermission. But Mitchell responded with a timely basket.

Bojan Bogdanovic did the same with a timely three-pointer with 37.6 second left before halftime after the Sixers pulled within seven points. The Jazz went on to take a 61-52 lead at intermission while making 10 of 20 three-pointers compared to 1-for-8 for Philly.

Furkan Korkmaz (1-for-1) had the Sixers’ only three-pointer in the first half. Harris (0-for-2), Danny Green (0-for-2), Seth Curry (0-for-2) and Shake Milton (0-for-1) were a combined 0-for-7.

The Sixers opened up the third quarter on a 17-11 run to close the gap to three-points (72-69) on Curry’s three-pointer with 7:21 left in the quarter. Philly pulled within three points two other times in the third quarter. On both occasions, the Jazz responded with timely baskets en route to building an 11-point cushion late in the third.

Embiid went back into the locker room late in the third quarter and emerged with 10:01 left on the clock. He headed straight for the exercise bike near the Sixers’ bench. He came out just in time to see Korkmaz knot the score at 92 with a four-foot jumper. Then, 1:04 later, Mike Scott buried a corner three to put the Sixers up, 95-92.

Embiid re-entered the game with the Sixers down, 98-97, with 7:33 left.

He wouldn’t disclose why he went into the locker room.