PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid had 31 points and 13 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers scored 83 points in the first half in a 149-107 thrashing of the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night in Jimmy Butler’s first game against his former team.

The Golden State Warriors were the only team to score more first-half points in a game this season when they dropped 92 on the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 29. The Sixers hit a team-record 21 3-pointers and reached their highest point total in the 22-year history of the Wells Fargo Center.

Butler scored 19 points in the first meeting with Minnesota since it sent him to the 76ers in a package deal that brought forwards Robert Covington and Dario Saric in return. Covington and Saric were popular core pieces of Philadelphia’s “Trust the Process” rebuild and both received massive ovations from an appreciative crowd in tribute videos.

The Sixers stuffed a season’s worth of highlights in the first half. They cut to the hoop with ease for layups and big Ben Simmons dunks. They buried mostly uncontested 3-pointers – 10 of 20 in the half.

PACERS 131, SUNS 97: Bojan Bogdanovic scored 20 points in Indiana’s home win.

Myles Turner returned for the first time in four games to finish with 18 points and six rebounds. Turner was nursing a sore right shoulder over the last week.

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Indiana got off to a hot start thanks to Bogdanovic, who scored the first 10 points. The Pacers doubled the Suns’ total in the first quarter, 38-19.

HAWKS 142, THUNDER 126: Trae Young had 24 points and 11 assists to win the showdown of past and former Atlanta point guards, leading the Hawks at home.

Former Hawks point guard Dennis Schroder scored 21 points in his return to Atlanta. Schroder struggled early but had 14 points in the third quarter.

NOTES

GRIZZLIES: The Memphis Grizzlies signed forward Julian Wallace to a two-way contract and waived forward/center Jarnell Stokes.


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