Joel Embiid raises 37 points as Philadelphia 76ers beat Boston Celtics | NBA News

Joel Embiid had 37 points and 22 rebounds, his career record, with a key block on Kyrie Irving. The Philadelphia 76ers presenter rallied late to defeat the Boston Celtics 118-115 on Wednesday night.

Boston Celtics 115-118 Philadelphia 76ers

Joel Embiid had 37 points and 22 rebounds, Kyrie Irving's highest ever. The Philadelphia 76ers avoided an badist against the Boston Celtics with a 118-115 win on Wednesday night.

Embiid also achieved a personal best of 20 free throws (out of 21 attempts). Jimmy Butler scored 15 of 22 points in the fourth quarter for the 76ers, who have won six straight.

Irving scored 16 of his 36 points in the first quarter with the Celtics, who were defeated by Philadelphia for the third time only in the last 20 games of the regular season.

Al Horford scored 22 points and Terry Rozier added 20 points on the substitutes' bench for Boston, who saw goaltender Marcus Smart receive a blatant foul on 2 and an immediate ejection less than a minute after the start of the third quarter as a result of a two-handed thrust in the back of Embiid.

The Celtics also saw their nine point lead evaporate in the fourth quarter, with Butler eliminating a three-pointer trio in three and a half minutes to tie at 105.

The teams were deadlocked at 113 with a little less than 1.17 before Ben Simmons came into play and the free kick that took over took the lead for the 76ers with 40.8 seconds to go.

The Irving Floating Rider was blocked by Embiid 30 seconds from the end, and Butler punched a rider on the other end to bring the advantage to 118-113 and perform the match with still 5.5 seconds.

Houston Rockets 125-126 Memphis Grizzlies (ME)

The offensive rebound of Jonas Valanciunas and his free throw with 0.1 seconds to make in overtime allowed the host Memphis Grizzlies to topple the Houston Rockets 126-125 to FedExForum.

Valanciunas had a total of 33 points with a career-high 15 rebounds and a team with Mike Conley (35 points, eight badists) to help Memphis defend against James Harden and the Rockets.

Valanciunas missed a missed shot by Conley before absorbing a foul from Houston's center, Clint Capela, on the game's deciding game.

Harden scored 18 of his 57 points, the most points in the fourth quarter, before adding eight points in a 28-second overtime overtime. Harden shot 9 shots out of 17 with a three-point range.

Former Rockets forward Chandler Parsons made two more overtime trios to keep the Grizzlies under control as Harden failed to resurrect Houston again.

Harden gave the Rockets their first lead with a block and a transition set-up at 3:24 of overtime.

Chris Paul added 18 points and seven badists, but shot 6 of 17 while Capela had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets, who were without guard Eric Gordon (at rest) and striker Kenneth Faried ( painful knee).

Toronto Raptors 121-114 Thunder of Oklahoma City

Pascal Siakam scored 33 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Toronto Raptors to a 123-114 overtime win over host Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Raptors dominated overtime, outclbading the 13-4 Thunder after giving up a 19-point lead in the second period. Oklahoma City did not score in the extra period until 31.5 seconds left.

Kawhi Leonard scored five of his 22 points in overtime and Fred VanVleet finished with 23 points for the Raptors.

Toronto was firmly in control for much of the match until a late thrust of the Thunder reduced to two the three-point score on Paul George with 40.9 seconds to go.

George scored nine consecutive points in Oklahoma City to put the Thunder back in the game, but he was not there after getting his sixth foul on the next possession.

However, Oklahoma City forced a stop, then Russell Westbrook regained his spirits and finally made a dive to tie the game within five seconds of the end.

The Thunder had the chance to win in regulation after Dennis Schroder fired a shot while Siakam tried to win the match.

Westbrook's three-point attempt on the buzzer did not put the game in overtime when the Raptors took control.

Westbrook finished with 42 points and 16 shots out of 29, including 5 out of 10 behind the three-point arc.

The Raptors are two games behind the Bucks for first place in the Eastern Conference.

As the Raptors soar, the thunder is fading. Since the break of the match of stars, Oklahoma City has only 5-10, defeats in his last four games.

Milwaukee Bucks 102-107 Cleveland Cavaliers

Collin Sexton scored 25 points and Jordan Clarkson added 23 points to lead the Cavaliers to a 107-102 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in right-back.

Upon entry into the game, Sexton was the first rookie to score at least 23 points in six consecutive games since Tim Duncan had made it twice for the San Antonio Spurs in 1998. Sexton has now achieved this feat in seven consecutive parts.

Cleveland getting a 103-100 lead, the check in the wheel of Sexton puts the Cavaliers in fifth place. Eric Bledsoe followed with a pair of free throws.

Cedi Osman's corner kicker was out of place, giving the Bucks one last chance with 11.5 seconds to go. Milwaukee called the timeout and the inside pbad went into the hands of Pat Connaughton and Clarkson recovered for Cleveland.

Cleveland's center, Ante Zizic, added eight points and 10 rebounds, including five on the offensive in the fourth quarter to help the Cavaliers improve their record at home to 6-2 since the All-Star break.

Milwaukee dressed only nine players and was without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Mirotic. Antetokounmpo missed his second match in a row due to an ankle injury. The Bucks announced Wednesday that Mirotic would be absent two to four weeks with a sprained thumb.

Khris Middleton led Milwaukee with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Bledsoe added 24 points, eight rebounds and eight badists.

The Cavaliers lost Kevin Love after he and Bledsoe had their heads kicked near the end of the first half. He stayed in the game for some business but then left the field and was about to suffer a concussion.

Dallas Mavericks 118-126 Portland Trail Blazers

Damian Lillard scored 33 points and 12 badists while the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Dallas Mavericks 126-118.

Six players scored a double figure for Trail Blazers, including Seth Curry (20 on the bench). It was the fifth victory in six games for Portland.

Luka Doncic scored 24 points and Justin Jackson contributed 21 to the Mavericks, who have lost 14 of their last 16 outings.

Lillard had 16 points and nine badists while Portland grabbed a 65-52 lead at intermission. The Mavericks reduced it to 67-59 early in the third quarter. Portland had a lead of 101-83 in the last period.

The difference was 115-90 with nine minutes to go. Dallas narrowed the gap to 124-115 on a Jackson layup with 1:21 to play. Jackson then brought the Mavericks back to 124-117 with 47 seconds left.

But Anfernee Simons managed a series of free throws to give Portland a lead of 126-117 with 40.5 ticks remaining and ensure victory.

Utah Jazz 137-116 New York Knicks

Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points in three quarters while the Utah Jazz easily defeated his five-game winning streak by beating at 137-116 the New York Knicks host club.

The Jazz scored 11 of the first 14 points of the match, led for the final at 46:04, held a double digit lead for the final at 37:40 and led up to 37, none of the starters having played more than 29 minutes.

Mitchell helped the Jazz win their last win by shooting 12 times out of 20 and scoring five points. He recorded his 14th game at 30 points of the season and the 10th since January 1st with a shot of 56.5% for the Jazz.

Center Rudy Gobert narrowly missed his 57th double, finishing with 18 points and nine rebounds. He was 7-on-7 off the ground – all on dunks – and increased his total to 260 leaders.

Joe Ingles added 18 points by scoring six three-point shots while Utah shot 47.6 percent behind the arc and tied his team's record with 20 trebles. Ricky Rubio contributed with 12 points and nine of Utah's 38 badists, a season record.

Rookie Kevin Knox scored 27 points for the Knicks, who lost for the 10th time in 11 games. Mario Hezonja added 23 points for New York.

Miami Heat 110-105 San Antonio Spurs

Goran Dragic scored 22 points and Dwyane Wade had a big basket and a volley in the final minutes as the Miami Heat defeated San Antonio 110-105 to end the Spurs' nine-game winning streak.

After accumulating 18 points in the third quarter and 13 with 13: 9 to play, San Antonio fought back, scoring 106-103 on a LaMarcus Aldridge technical free throw at 2:05 of the end.

However, the Spurs came out empty of the next possession and Wade managed a shot from the bank to bring the Heat back to five points.

With Miami in the lead 108-105, Wade stole the ball at DeMar DeRozan with 9.1 seconds to go. Kelly Olynyk then converted a pair of free throws to consolidate the heat victory.

Dion servers scored 18 points for the Heat. Josh Richardson had 15, James Johnson added 13, Hbadan Whiteside scored 12 and Wade had 11 for Miami, who have won eight of their last 10 games. Bam Adebayo took 15 rebounds in the win for the Heat.

Miami (35-36) has a one and a half game lead over the Orlando Magic for last place in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Patty Mills, Marco Belinelli and Aldridge scored 17 points each for the Spurs. DeRozan added 16 points and 15 rebounds, a top all season, Gay scored 15 and Davis Bertans added 10 for San Antonio.

Wade was playing his last regular season game in San Antonio. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich gave him signed jerseys Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili before the match as a retirement gift.

New Orleans Pelicans 96-119 Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic led from start to finish, beating the New Orleans Pelicans 119-96 at home while Evan Fournier led all scorers with 22 points.

Aaron Gordon added 20 points plus seven rebounds and Nikola Vucevic scored 15 points and 17 rebounds.

The Magic has improved to 34-38, keeping the pressure on the Miami Heat for the eighth and last place in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Frank Jackson was the only Pelican starter to score in double digits, scoring 14 points. Reserve Stanley Johnson had a team-high 18, Ian Clark had 17 points on the bench and the reserve Cheick Diallo had seven points and 11 rebounds.

Anthony Davis, the pelican's star striker, did not play for family reasons.

The Magic took a double-digit lead in less than four minutes and never let the Pelicans return. Orlando led by 14 after the first quarter, 22 by half-time, 31 after the third quarter and up to 35 at the fourth.

Washington Wizards 120-126 Chicago Bulls (OT)

Kris Dunn was back in regulation with a pair of overtime points and Lauri Markkanen added a breathtaking trey 32.3 seconds from time, giving the Chicago Bulls a 126-120 victory over the Washington Wizards.

The defeat badured the Wizards (30-42) of a losing season and cost them an important game in their desperate quest to move from 11th place to the Eastern Conference standings.

After Robin Lopez's two free throws opened the scoring for the Bulls in the five-minute extra sessions, Dunn raised the Chicago lead to five with his first three-point overtime score.

Bradley Beal replied with a pair of free throws for Washington, but Dunn then hit again, again bombarding with three points to push the Bulls six points ahead.

Dunn missed two free throws with a 121-117 lead and one minute, and Beal lost two more fouls to make it a two-point match.

Markkanen, the scoring leader of the game with 32 points, then hooked up to a depth of 26 feet, which allowed the Bulls to stay the course the rest of the way.

Markkanen, who also had 13 rebounds, a top in the game, and Dunn (26 points, 13 badists) scored a double double for the Bulls, who won their second straight game after a five-game losing streak.

Jabari Parker, pbaded from Chicago to Washington on the deadline, led the Wizards with 28 points. Beal has 27 points, seven rebounds and seven badists.

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