Philadelphia Feb 1 (US): Therese Maxi scored 33 points, including a corner kick with 26.4 seconds left in overtime that put Philadelphia ahead forever, and the 76ers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 122-119 without Joel Embiid on Monday night.
Tobias Harris added 31 points and Andre Drummond added 16 points and 23 rebounds for Philadelphia, who won his fifth straight game and is 15th in the last 18. .
“Just great effort from everyone,” Harris said. “We wanted this.”
Ja Morant scored 37 points, while Desmond scored between 34 points for Memphis.
“I love big games,” Bean said. “They played well. We played well and fought. As long as we struggle and play together, I will live with the result every night.”
Neither team has led more than four in an exciting consecutive fourth quarter and overtime.
Maxi put the layup in command and put Philadelphia ahead 120-119. The 76ers thronged off the fairway as Morant attempted to reclaim the lead with a move on the ensuing possession, and the Memphis star kicked it into Zayer Williams, who blasted off from the three-corner. Matisse Thieballe grabbed the rebound and passed forward to Maxi, who finished the scoring with a throw-in.
“I’m glad he’s my main goalkeeper,” Drummond said.
Embiid celebrated with the 76ers in the locker room afterwards.
“He’s a great fellow,” Maxi said. “He is our best player.”
Morant scored 30 points for the seventh consecutive game. Before Embiid’s absence was announced earlier in the day, the match looked like a match between two of the NBA’s top stars.
Embiid rested after a glittering streak of 21 consecutive games in which he played raising his profile in the MVP. The 76ers’ big man averaged 33.1 points over the extended period to bring his average points tally to 29.1 points per game, who finished second in the league behind Kevin Durant’s 29.3 entry who entered Monday.
Embiid was named a junior in his fifth consecutive All-Star game last week, and was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week on Monday. Philadelphia coach Doc Rivers said the rest day was prearranged by the team’s medical staff.
“They thought this was the right day,” Rivers said.
After finishing second in last season’s MVP vote, Embiid has spoken publicly about the weakness he felt in the last two seasons by individual award selectors who dropped him on their roster for his absence – he’s played only 51 games in each of the past two seasons – and made it a priority to be More reliable this season.
Monday marked the 12th game Embiid has lost, and he missed nine of them due to health and safety protocols. The last time he sat was on December 13 when Philadelphia lost 126-91 in Memphis, a game in which the 76ers felt they came out of the tough game.
“They love the punk teams and they’ve hit a lot of teams in this league,” Harris said. “We won’t let that happen tonight.”
Embiid missed a thrilling storyline in what was a tough game throughout the fourth quarter.
Morant raced to the floor, scoring on a buoy with 8.1 seconds remaining on the regulation and a foul by Drummond. Rivers defied the call, but it was unsuccessful. Morant missed the free throw, though, kept the game tied at 111, and Seth Curry’s base jump went off at the regulatory bell, sending the game into overtime.
Rivers was technically evaluated for the argument that an error should have been called.
“If there’s anyone you want to get angry with, it could be me,” Morant said. “If you throw the ball free, we probably won’t go into overtime.”
Morant delivered a thrilling display in the third quarter, dazzling with tricky moves, amazing jumping ability and magic-like passing. He twice got past Drummond with changing direction stops on the dime in succession early in the quarter, and helped Williams break fast with a back-to-back pass and took off like a bouncing on a trampoline. Left-handed Alley flooded at 80 with 2:43 remaining in this period.
The Memphis star, who was named the first star of the Western Conference last week, had normally strong Philly fans “oohing” and “aahing” in amazement with his moves, and finished the period with 13 points as the Grizzlies trailed in entering the fourth 84-80.
“He’s a great athlete, he’s able to make amazing plays, but at the end of the day there are still two points,” Drummond said. “You have to tip your hat to him, but we won the match.”
coach room
Grizzlies: Dillon Brooks (left ankle) has been sidelined for the 18th time in his last 20 games. Last played on January 8… Tyus Jones is back in the squad after missing six matches due to health and safety protocols. He had four points, two rebounds and two passes. … Morante had nine turns.
76ers: Furkan Korkmaz (left knee sore) sat off the field after being injured in Saturday’s game. …Shake Milton (back) missed his 14th game in a row.
Hint
Grizzlies: Coach Taylor Jenkins graduated from the nearby University of Pennsylvania and remembered attending the 76ers games in the mid-2000s as an undergraduate. “The great times are here, we’ve seen a lot of great matches here,” he said. “The energy in this building, the fans are so unique, the passion they have here. I go down memory lane every time I come back to town.” …Memphis fell to 16-9 on the road.
76ers: Isaiah Joe had a pair of four-point plays in the first half. … Philadelphia Eagles WR Defonta Smith sat courtside, as did former Eagles WR Freddy Mitchell. …the 76ers improved to 14-10 at home.
next one
Grizzlies: At the New York Knicks on Wednesday night.
76ers: Finish a five-game home run on Wednesday night against Washington.