PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid scored 18 points playing with a dislocated left ring finger, Ben Simmons had 17 points and 15 rebounds and the Philadelphia 76ers snapped a four-game losing streak, beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-113 on Monday night.
The 76ers lost all four games on a trip that knocked them down the Eastern Conference standings and raised questions about how far this team can go in the playoffs.
They usually last in the postseason as long as a healthy Embiid can take them. The All-Star center dislocated his left ring finger in the first quarter, an injury so gnarly that the bent finger stretched across his pinkie and the sight did a number on gag reflexes for those watching at home. Embiid made a brief stop in the locker room, got the finger taped and returned to start the second quarter. Perhaps it’s why he wasn’t his usual force on the glass and lost a bunch of rebounds to Steven Adams.
The Thunder, who had won five straight, closed within two with 3 minutes left before the Sixers scored nine straight points to put the game away.
Embiid’s fingers looked fine on a dish to Tobias Harris for a dunk, and Harris buried a 3 to make it 115-106.
PACERS 115, HORNETS 104: T.J. Warren scored 30 of his season-high 36 points in the second half, and Indiana won in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Domantas Sabonis added 18 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, and Miles Turner had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Pacers, who had lost four of their previous five. The Pacers, who are 15-4 at home, improved to 8-10 on the road.
MAGIC 101, NETS 89: Markelle Fultz scored a career-high 25 points, including seven straight during a 15-1 run in the fourth quarter that sent Orlando past slumping Brooklyn in Orlando, Florida.
Nikola Vucevic had 23 rebounds and 11 points for his 300th career double-double, and the Magic pulled away in the final seven minutes after going 9:20 without a field goal.
Joe Harris and Spencer Dinwiddie scored 16 apiece for the Nets, who lost their sixth straight game after charging back from a 16-point deficit to take a lead in the fourth quarter.
NUGGETS 123, HAWKS 115: Nikola Jokic scored a career-high 47 points, Will Barton added a season-best 28 and Denver held on in Atlanta.
The Nuggets, coming off a surprising loss at Washington two nights earlier, have won four of six to improve to 25-11, second-best in the Western Conference. Atlanta, worst in the NBA at 8-29, has dropped 11 of 13.
Trae Young finished with 29 points and Kevin Huerter had 22 for the Hawks.
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