Embiid powers 76ers past struggling Thunder
FILE – Shake Milton #18 of the Philadelphia 76ers celebrates with Joel Embiid #21 during the second quarter against the Indiana Pacers at Wells Fargo Center on March 01, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Joel Embiid scored 27 points to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 117-93 road win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night.
It was Embiid’s first time playing both ends of a back-to-back since returning from missing 10 games due to a knee injury.
After Friday’s loss in New Orleans, Embiid’s status was in doubt after an awkward fall. But after going just 5 of 16 from the floor in that loss, Embiid spent some time on the court after the game working on his shot.
After missing his first two shots Saturday night, Embiid got going. And three Philadelphia starters — Embiid, Ben Simmons and Furkan Korkmaz — scored 10 points each in the opening quarter as the 76ers jumped out to a 37-25 lead.
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Philadelphia dominated inside early, with 18 points in the paint while shooting 13 of 16 inside the 3-point line in the first quarter.
Korkmaz finished with a season-high 20 points while Simmons added 13. Dwight Howard had 13 rebounds in less than 15 minutes for Philly.
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Oklahoma City Thunder 04.10.21
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— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) April 11, 2021
Turnovers were once again an issue for Oklahoma City. The Thunder had 22 turnovers, leading to 32 Philadelphia points.
The 76ers turned the ball over just nine times.
Philadelphia was without a pair of starters, with Tobias Harris out with right knee soreness and Danny Green out with left hip soreness.
The Thunder got a pair of players back from injury. Darius Bazley returned from a shoulder injury after missing 16 consecutive games and Luguentz Dort returned from concussion protocol after missing the last seven games.
Bazley led the Thunder with 17 points while Dort added 15.
Tony Bradley, playing his first game against the 76ers since being traded by Philadelphia in late March, had 16 points and 14 rebounds.
But Oklahoma City’s injury issues continued.
Rookie Aleksej Pokusevski was holding his right arm often during warmups. Pokusevski started but played just eight minutes before leaving with right arm soreness.
The Thunder shot 50 percent from the field, their first loss of the season while shooting at that clip or better. Oklahoma City was just 9 of 19 at the free-throw line.
OKC has lost six consecutive games.
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