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AFP, LOS ANGELES
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The Philadelphia 76ers, fueled by 36 points from Tyrese Maxey and a triple-double from Joel Embiid, on Thursday beat the Houston Rockets 128-122 in an NBA overtime thriller.
Cameroonian big man Embiid scored 32 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out 10 assists, posting the ninth triple-double of his career to help the Sixers end the Rockets’ three-game winning streak.
Rockets star Kevin Durant scored 36 points and Amen Thompson added 17, but Thompson was scoreless in the fourth quarter.
Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers goes to the basket against the Houston Rockets in their NBA game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Thursday.
Photo: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Even so, the Rockets led by nine midway through the final frame, Maxey tying it at 115-115 with 40.1 seconds left.
Durant missed a potential go-ahead basket then blocked a Maxey shot as they went to overtime, the Sixers arguing for a goaltending call that would have sealed a win for them but did not come.
Philadelphia opened the extra session with five straight points and held on for a win punctuated by a Maxey dunk.
“We locked in,” Embiid said. “Obviously, it starts on defense. We played faster, we didn’t walk the ball up. At the end of fourth and overtime we executed.”
Embiid said Philadelphia did a better job guarding Durant in the second half.
“Obviously, it’s KD,” he said. “I told the guys at halftime in the first half it was too easy for him. I just told them we needed to lock in and kind of shrink the floor, and then we did a better job of that in the second half.”
In Dallas, Naji Marshall scored 30 points and handed out nine assists to lead the Mavericks to a fourth straight victory, 123-115 over the Golden State Warriors.
Rookie Cooper Flagg and Max Christie added 21 points apiece for the Mavericks, who withstood a 38-point performance from Warriors star Stephen Curry, including eight three-pointers.
The Warriors have lost two straight since losing Jimmy Butler for the season with a torn knee ligament.
Jonathan Kuminga, pressed into service due to Butler’s injury, scored 10 points for the Warriors before departing in the second quarter after hyperextending his left knee.
It is more uncertainty for the Warriors and Kuminga, who had reportedly demanded a trade after being benched for 16 games by coach Steve Kerr.
The Chicago Bulls welcomed the return of Australian point guard Josh Giddey with a 120-115 victory over the Timberwolves in Minnesota.
Giddey, sidelined since Dec. 20 last year with a hamstring injury, came off the bench to score 21 points.
Julius Randle led all scorers with 30 points for Minnesota as Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards finished with 20, connecting on just nine of his 25 attempts from the field.
Elsewhere, the Nuggets overcame the Wizards 107-97, the Trail Blazers beat the Heat 127-110, the Clippers defeated the Lakers 112-104, the Spurs silenced the Jazz 126-109 and the Hornets stung the Magic 124-97.
Additional reporting by staff writer
