James Harden’s record night keys Sixers rally to beat Los Angeles Clippers, 119-114, in seventh consecutive win

Joel Embiid flipped the ball over his head, De’Anthony Melton put on a dribble move, and the shot went splash to give the 76ers’ a late seven-point edge over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Perhaps Embiid was simply doing his best James Harden impression. The All-NBA center’s dash of flair complemented a night when Harden provided the steadiest dose of assists in his future Hall of Fame career, notching 21 as part of his first triple-double of the season to engineer the Sixers’ improbable turnaround to win, 119-114, Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center to complete a perfect 7-0 homestand.

“I’ve always been a playmaker,” said Harden, who also finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds. “But in other scenarios, I had to score a lot more. That’s one of the reasons why I’m here, and it’s working well. I think my aggressiveness allows my playmaking.”

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Harden’s 21 assists tied a franchise record also totaled by Maurice Cheeks (1982) and Wilt Chamberlain (1968). He also became the second player in Sixers history to record a 20-assist triple-double. His 10th rebound to achieve the stat line, fittingly, came on a missed Kawhi Leonard free throw that would have cut the Sixers’ lead to two points with less than 30 seconds to play.

Ten of Harden’s assists went to Embiid, who amassed 44 points and seven rebounds and was the primary scoring source during a forgettable first half.

“Doc has allowed me to just be me and run the team and the show,” Harden said. “ … It’s game-by-game. Different teams show us different schemes defensively. Tonight, they tried to switch to put a guard on Joel. It’s about him recognizing it, the team recognizing it [and] getting to their spot to get him the ball.

“He makes the play, and then we get the shot and vice versa. So it’s really learning on the fly and learning on the job, which is a cool thing because we’ve got high IQ players.”

After primarily feasting on injured and/or struggling opponents during this homestand’s first six games, the Sixers made a statement against a Clippers team that, when healthy, is expected to contend in the Western Conference.

But after taking a 99-90 lead with less than nine minutes remaining, the Sixers needed to hold off the Clippers.

Leonard used two consecutive old-fashioned three-point plays to even the score, 103-103, midway through the fourth quarter, before a Nicolas Batum deep shot gave the Clippers a 108-107 edge with less than four minutes to play.

Then, the Sixers answered with 10 consecutive points, including Melton’s three-pointer and a pair of Harden free throws.

“That’s big-time for us,” Embiid said. “That just shows that we stayed together, we trust each other and we know what we have to do. We started off the game soft, especially defensively. And as soon as we turned it up, it changed the whole game.”

Los Angeles led by as many as 20 points in the second quarter, when Paul George buried a three-pointer and a Clippers supporter in the crowd hollered “It’s over!”

Instead, that ignited the Sixers’ charge.

They outscored the Clippers, 45-22, over the next 16 minutes of game action. The Sixers tied the score, 77-77, on an Embiid dunk late in the third, took an 83-80 lead on two Embiid free throws and were tied at 85 heading to the final period.

Leonard finished with 28 points and five assists in just his 13th game for the Clippers this season. George totaled 22 points but only scored five points after the break on 1-of-6 shooting, thanks to stingy individual defense from Melton.

The Sixers next play a marquee Christmas Day game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks entered Friday with eight wins in their last nine games.

Harden’s masterful playmaking since becoming a Sixer hit its highest statistical gear yet Friday night. And his growing chemistry with Embiid in the pick and roll was on full display, finding the big man for a mix of jumpers and finishes at the rim.

Harden assisted Embiid four times in the game’s first seven minutes. He set his new career high in that category on an Embiid layup with less than seven minutes to play, then notched his 20th on an Embiid jumper that gave the Sixers a 105-103 advantage about a minute later.

“He makes my life easy, and I sure hope I do the same for him,” Embiid said.

In the third quarter, Harden also hit a three-pointer to cut the Clippers’ lead to 74-69 with about five minutes to play in the third quarter, then dished to De’Anthony Melton for a deep shot that got the Sixers within two. He also assisted Tobias Harris’ go-ahead three-pointer with less than four minutes to play.

That all came after Harden went 5-of-14 from the floor in the first half, but did total 10 assists.

Another significant reason for the Sixers’ comeback win: Their second unit transformed after a first half during which they were outscored 24-4.

Shake Milton (13 points), in particular, caught fire after missing five of his six first-half shots. He gave the Sixers an 81-80 lead on a layup with less than two to play in the third quarter, then tied the game at 85 with a driving layup in the period’s final minute.

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Then, he scored seven consecutive points early in the fourth, before Georges Niang (11 points, four rebounds) banged home a three-pointer that put the Sixers up 97-89 with less than 10 minutes remaining.

“That’s the game. That’s the story,” veteran forward P.J. Tucker said of Milton, unprompted. “ … That’s what we need. That performance, from different guys every night, that’s how you build a championship team and have everybody contribute.”

Rivers also commended Paul Reed’s five-minute stretch to start the fourth after he did not play in the first half and was out of the rotation for the previous six games. The coach added that starting the fourth quarter with Harden and Tobias Harris on the floor with Milton, Niang and Reed made a difference. Milton and Niang ended up playing eight and nine minutes in the period, respectively, while Tucker nursed a “dead hand” from a pinched nerve.

Norman Powell anchored the Clippers’ second unit with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, four rebounds and four assists.

Before the break, the Clippers carved up a Sixers defense that entered Friday ranked second in the NBA in efficiency, allowing just 107.9 points per 100 possessions.

Los Angeles shot 61 percent before in the first half to build the big cushion, including 10-of-19 from three-point range. Rivers said his team played with “zero physicality” during that stretch.

“We talked about playing in their airspace, and every shot, we had a gap,” Rivers said. “I thought, in the second half, we got up. We pressured the ball up the floor. We made catches harder. They were later in the clock. We got misses, and it allowed us to play.”