Joel Embiid’s 38 points and Seth Curry’s 28 on Wednesday saw the Philadelphia 76ers withstand a 60-point performance from Washington’s Bradley Beal in a 141-136 win over the Wizards.
Tobias Harris and Shake Milton scored 19 points each, while Ben Simmons added 17 points and 12 assists, as the Sixers notched their fifth consecutive win and pushed their league-leading record to 7-1.
The Sixers led by as many as 21 points in the third quarter, but the Wizards hung around and knotted the score at 131-131 with four minutes left to play.
Photo: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY
From there, the Sixers scored eight consecutive points to pull away.
The defeat was more painful for the Wizards, as Russell Westbrook departed in the waning minutes with a hand injury, after contributing 20 points, eight rebounds and 12 assists.
The night’s 11 games played out hours after a mob of US President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol building in Washington, forcing lawmakers to flee to safety and leaving one woman dead.
Around the league players and coaches addressed the violence, as well as a decision on Tuesday not to bring charges against the white police officer who shot and paralyzed African American Jacob Blake in Wisconsin in August last year.
“We play tonight’s game with a heavy heart after yesterday’s decision in Kenosha and knowing that protesters in our nation’s capital are treated differently by political leaders depending on what side of certain issues they are on,” players from the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat said in a joint statement before their game.
“The drastic difference between the way protesters this past spring and summer were treated, and the encouragement given to today’s protesters who acted illegally just shows how much more work we have to do,” they said.
The marquee matchup in Miami was the first meeting between the teams since the Heat eliminated the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.
The rematch saw the Celtics emerge from a close game with a 107-105 victory.
Boston used a 10-0 scoring run to build a 10-point lead with 1 minute, 17 seconds remaining, only for the Heat to respond with a 10-0 run of their own before Celtics guard Payton Pritchard made the winning layup with two-tenths of a second remaining.
Jimmy Butler led the Heat with 26 points.
Jayson Tatum paced the Celtics with 27 and Jaylen Brown added 21.
In Orlando, Terrence Ross scored 20 points and Dwayne Bacon added 19 to lead the Magic to a 105-94 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
However, the victory was marred by a season-ending knee injury to point guard Markelle Fultz in the first quarter.
Fultz’s knee appeared to give out as he drove to the basket and he crashed to the court in obvious pain, with what the team later said was a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Charlotte’s free-agent acquisition, Gordon Hayward, scored a career-high 44 points to propel the Hornets to a 102-94 victory over the Hawks in Atlanta.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
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Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care