Joel Embiid had 41 points and nine rebounds in a dominant performance and Tyrese Maxey scored 13 of his 22 points in the fourth as the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 120-110 on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
The Sixers (28-16) have won 16 of its last 20 games and have been clicking on all cylinders since starting the season with a 12-12 record.
“It wouldn’t be happening without my teammates,” Embidd said. “James (Harden) is doing a good job of making it easy for me. Guys knocking down shots opens up a lot for me to go out and dominate.”
Tobias Harris finished with 20 points, six rebounds and five steals while making 8-of-12 shots for Philadelphia. Harden struggled from the field scoring only six points but added nine assists in the win.
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“You can’t have 19 turnovers against a good team and expect to win,” Clippers coach Ty Lue said.
The Clippers (24-24) have now lost 8 of its last 10 games while continuing to rotate starting lineups with key players out with injuries. However, Paul George returned from a five-game absence after nursing a hamstring strain.
“It’s a unique matchup against Philly, one that we have to get better at in general,” George said.
Kawhi Leonard finished with 27 points while George added 13 points and eight rebounds for the Clippers, who remained without guards Luke Kennard (calf) and John Wall (abdomen).
“We gotta come in and win these games,” Leonard said. “And be focused enough to execute and stay strong with each other. The things you do to win a basketball game is you gotta get the defensive rebounds, we gotta make shots, we can’t give the other team the ball, we gotta get back in transition, and those things are hurting us right now.”
Los Angeles fell behind by 14 in the second quarter, but outscored the Sixers 37-27 in the third to take a four-point lead late in the third after a Leonard three-pointer and free throw.
Philadelphia went on to respond and outscored Los Angeles 36-13 over the closing minutes of the game after the Clippers could not get shots to fall.
Maxey made three 3-pointers to start the fourth and the Clippers were unable to recover after being outscored 30-21 in the final period.
“We’ve got a lot to improve still. Once we do that consistently, we’ll see where we are,” Leonard said.
The Clippers will next travel to take on the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night and the San Antonio Spurs on Friday evening.
“I mean… we’ve just behind the 8-ball just in terms of injuries, lineups, and guys in and out,” George said.
“Urgency starts now. We’ve got to start playing with some desperation.”
