Joel Embiid shines as Philadelphia 76ers beat Denver Nuggets to stay perfect at home
Heat take down Hawks in overtime; Blazers rout sorry Knicks; Graham leads Hornets past Wizards
Wednesday 11 December 2019 06:18, UK
Joel Embiid had 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists as the Philadelphia 76ers remained unbeaten at home with a 97-92 win over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.
Denver Nuggets 92-97 Philadelphia 76ers
Joel Embiid had 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists as the Philadelphia 76ers remained unbeaten at home with a 97-92 win over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.
Tobias Harris added 20 points, Matisse Thybulle had 13 and Al Horford 11 as the Sixers improved to 13-0 at Wells Fargo Center, their best home start since winning 22 in a row in 1966-67.
Will Barton led the Nuggets with 26 points and Nikola Jokic added 15 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds. Gary Harris also scored 14 points while Paul Millsap had 10 for Denver, who Jamal Murray to a hip injury in the first quarter.
Jokic drove to the basket for a hoop that closed the Nuggets within 95-92 with 18.9 seconds remaining. Embiid then hit a pair of free throws with 15.3 seconds left for a 97-92 lead. Barton missed a three-point attempt, and the Sixers grabbed the rebound and ran out the clock.
Murray appeared to injure his hip with 6:49 left in the first quarter, and he did not return for the remainder of the game. Murray was scoreless in five first-half minutes, and X-rays taken in the locker room were negative, according to the TV commentators.
Atlanta Hawks 121-135 Miami Heat (OT)
Duncan Robinson bombed in his ninth three-pointer of the game 17 seconds into overtime, then added a 10th later in the extra session as the host Miami Heat outlasted the Atlanta Hawks 135-121.
Five players had career nights in the shootout, led by Robinson, who recorded career highs in points (34) and three-pointers (10 on just 14 attempts).
Miami rookie Kendrick Nunn led all scorers with a career-high 36 points, Bam Adebayo recorded a career-first triple-double with a career-high 30 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 11 assists, and Jimmy Butler also notched a triple-double with 20 points, a career-high 18 rebounds and 10 assists.
Miami's starters combined for 124 of the team's 135 points. Rookie De'Andre Hunter helped keep Atlanta in the game with a career-high 28 points.
After Robinson and Butler hit consecutive three-pointers to get Miami even at 117-all with 29.8 seconds remaining in the fourth period, both teams had a shot at a regulation win. Hunter missed badly on a three-pointer for Atlanta, leading to a 24-second violation, before Butler couldn't connect on a buzzer-beating 18-footer for Miami.
En route to their third straight win, the Heat dominated the five-minute overtime, scoring the first 16 points. Adebayo had nine points in the extra session, including a three-point play.
Trae Young backed Hunter with 21 points and nine assists for Atlanta, who fell to Miami for the third straight time this season. The game featured 95 three-point attempts, including 54 by the Hawks.
Washington Wizards 107-114 Charlotte Hornets
Devonte' Graham had another big second half on his way to scoring 29 points as the Charlotte Hornets made key conversions on offense down the stretch to pull out a 114-107 victory against the visiting Washington Wizards. The Hornets finished a five-game homestand with a 2-3 record.
Despite Charlotte's recent defensive problems, the Hornets held the Wizards below their season scoring average of 118.2 entering the game. As for Graham, he scored 22 second-half points for the second time in three games and at scored in double digits in the second half for the fourth time in five games.
Graham's three-point play with 1:34 left sent the Hornets to a 108-104 edge. After a Terry Rozier free throw, Wizards reserve Davis Bertans made his eighth three-pointer of the game with 31.4 seconds to play to make it 109-107. But Miles Bridges drained a three-pointer from the corner for Charlotte with the shot clock winding down and only about eight seconds left to ensure the win.
Rozier had 17 points for the Hornets and Bridges finished with 16. PJ Washington, despite coming off an ankle injury sustained Sunday, had 15 points, Cody Zeller had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Bismack Biyombo provided 13 points and 15 rebounds.
Bertans poured in 32 points on 8-for-12 shooting on three-pointers, while the rest of the Wizards were a combined 3-for-23 on threes. Rui Hachimura had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Washington, who lost their fourth straight road game. Bradley Beal added 16 and Ish Smith chipped in 13.
New York Knicks 87-115 Portland Trail Blazers
Damian Lillard had 31 points, including eight three-pointers, as the Portland Trail Blazers handed the New York Knicks their 10th straight loss, 115-87.
Hassan Whiteside added 17 points and 15 rebounds to help the Blazers end a two-game skid. Portland led by as many as 32 points.
Julius Randle had 15 points for the Knicks, who have won just four games, the fewest in the league. They have one win on the road.
In Portland, New York faced Carmelo Anthony, who played for the Knicks from 2011-17. When the Blazers picked up Anthony on November 19, the 10-time All-Star had been out of the game for more than a year. But he has fit in well with Portland as a starter, averaging nearly 16 points and six rebounds a game. He finished with 16 points.
Lillard's step-back three-pointer put the Blazers up 32-22 at the end of the first quarter. Portland led by as many as 21 points in the half and was up 60-41 at the break behind 25 points from Lillard.
Lillard's 28-foot three-pointer put the Blazers up 74-47 midway through the third quarter. He did not play in the final quarter. Anthony and CJ McCollum went to the bench for good early in the fourth.
