It wasn’t easy, but the Philadelphia 76ers, at home, reached their seventh straight win on Friday night. Joel Embiid and James Harden led as the Sixers beat the Los Angeles Clippers 119-114.
While Embiid added 44 points and seven rebounds, Harden had an insane 20 points, 21 assists and 11 rebounds. On the other hand, Kawhi Leonard (28 points) and Paul George (22) were the scorers of Los Angeles.
In the first half, the Clippers came better and led by 17 to 11 after George’s basket. However, Tobias Harris evened it all out at 19. But Los Angeles hit three 3-pointers in the last 90 seconds to partially win, 33-24.
Norman Powell extended the lead to 11 early in the second quarter. Luke Kennard made three, was fouled and converted a free throw to make it 41 to 29.
The difference reached 19 after Powell’s basket, while the Sixers had no answers. However, Philadelphia reacted and began to cut on the scoreboard. At the end of the first half, the Clippers were leading 63-51.
On the way back from the changing rooms, then, Ivica Zubac left it at 72 to 58. But Philadelphia’s three balls began to fall and, in five minutes, Embiid tied at 77.
Marcus Morris still scored from a long distance, but the moment was all over from the 76ers. Shake Milton turned 81 to 80 and the teams went into the decisive quarter tied at 85.
Milton started the second half with seven consecutive points and thus left the Sixers ahead by 94 to 89. Then Georges Niang hit three and the lead was eight.
Harris scored and the 76ers won 101-94, but the Clippers reacted quickly. Two minutes later, the game was tied at 103.
Nicolas Batum turned to Los Angeles with a three-pointer, but Harris responded in kind. Then Milton, Embiid and Harden put Philadelphia ahead 117-108 with just over a minute left.
On free throws, the Clippers pulled over again, but Leonard missed one of them. With 11 seconds to go, Embiid was fouled, hit his two tries, and the Sixers opened five.
The visitors still tried to cut, with three shots, but failed, giving final numbers to the game. As a result, the Sixers have 19 wins and 12 losses, while the Clippers have 19 wins in 34 games.
