Joel Embiid on Saturday scored 24 points in his return from a 10-game injury absence to lift the Philadelphia 76ers to a 122-113 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Embiid added eight rebounds and three blocks in his first game since suffering a bruised left knee during the 76ers 127-101 win over the Washington Wizards last month.
“It felt great,” said Embiid, who played with his knee heavily bandaged. “Just trying to get my rhythm back. I’m going to blame the brace I was wearing. I just felt like I didn’t have my rhythm all game. It felt like I wasn’t smooth. I hate the brace.”
Photo: AP
Tobias Harris scored a team high 32 points, Shake Milton and Ben Simmons each had 14 points and Seth Curry added 13 for the 76ers, who have won 12 of their last 15 contests.
The 76ers beat the Timberwolves for the eighth consecutive time, shooting 42 percent from beyond the arc and 50 percent from the field.
Still, head coach Doc Rivers was not happy.
“We won the game, but I wasn’t thrilled how we played,” Rivers said. “It was one of those sloppy, ugly games. We had so many chances to put the game away, but we refused to do that tonight.”
Karl-Anthony Towns tallied 39 points and 14 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who have lost seven of their past nine games. Towns could have added to his totals, but he fouled out of the game. Anthony Edwards chipped in 27 points.
Elsewhere, the Dallas Mavericks used another solid defensive performance to hold their opponent to fewer than 100 points for the second consecutive game as they capped a five-game road trip with a 109-87 win over the Washington Wizards.
Luka Doncic finished with 26 points, Jalen Brunson came off the bench to score 19 as the Mavs posted their fourth straight win.
All five Maverick starters scored in double-figures, including Boban Marjanovic who tallied 15 points, 12 rebounds.
He was starting in place of Kristaps Porzingis, who was given the night off because Dallas was playing two straight days.
Tim Hardaway scored 16 points, making consecutive three-pointers in the fourth quarter that gave the Mavericks a dominating 19 point lead which ended the Wizards comeback hopes.
In other games on Saturday, it was:
‧ Heat 115, Cavaliers 101
‧ Knicks 125, Pistons 81
‧ Pacers 139, Spurs 133
‧ Trail Blazers 133, Thunder 85
‧ Bucks 129, Kings 128
‧ Jazz 137, Magic 91
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB