SUMMARY
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LOS ANGELES, USA – Thaddeus Young torched his former team for 26 points and 10 rebounds as the Indiana Pacers overcame a huge performance from Joel Embiid with a 113-101 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA on Friday night, December 14 (Saturday, December 15, Manila time).
Embiid erupted for 40 points and added 21 rebounds to become the first player this season with at least 40 points and 20 rebounds in a single game. He is the first 76ers player to score 30 points and 20 rebounds since Charles Barkley in December 1990.
Indiana’s Victor Oladipo returned from missing 11 games with a knee injury to tally 14 points and 9 assists in the battle of Eastern Conference contenders. Oladipo especially made his presence known in the 4th quarter by draining some clutch jump shots.
Bojan Bogdanovic had 18 points, and the Pacers won their sixth straight to pass the Sixers in the standings.
“We were able to get some stops and make Embiid work a little harder, send some help to him, to our bigs down there and just execute it the second half,” Pacers head coach Nate McMillan said.
Joel Embiid tallies 40 PTS & 21 REB to become the first @sixers player since Charles Barkley in 1990 to have a 40p/20r game! #HereTheyCome pic.twitter.com/7CrjHqdtlh
— NBA (@NBA) December 15, 2018
JJ Redick added 22 points and Ben Simmons had 18 for the Sixers, who dropped to 19-11 overall.
They also lost their second consecutive game at home after beginning the season 14-1 at home.
Philadelphia played without injured All-Star Jimmy Butler, who has missed the last two contests.
The 76ers started quickly building a 12-2 lead to open the contest. Indiana went on a 12-0 surge to tie it 38-38 in the 2nd quarter. Embiid then took over, scoring 14 points in the final 5 minutes of the 2nd quarter to put Philadelphia ahead 59-49 at the half.
The Pacers then went to work, erasing that 10 point halftime deficit with the help of consecutive three-pointers by Bogdanovic.
Bogdanovic’s three with 3:46 left stretched Indiana’s lead to 102-92 and they never looked back on the way to hiking their record to 19-10.
Antetokounmpo back in form
Elsewhere, Giannis Antetokounmpo recovered from the worst game of his season to match his career high with 44 points and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 114-102.
Two nights after being held to a season-low 12 points in a loss to Indiana, he was 14-of-19 from the field and made 16-of-21 foul shots.
“You’ve got to put that game in the past,” said Antetokounmpo, who also had 14 rebounds. “You put it in the past and move forward.”
Milwaukee was missing two key players – Khris Middleton, who was out with a sprained right finger and Malcolm Brogdon, who didn’t play because of a sore left hamstring.
Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer wasn’t surprised Antetokounmpo was able to step up and carry the load.
“Obviously, a monster game for Giannis,” he said. “We kind of rode him pretty hard tonight. He was ultra-aggressive. He’s a competitor. He wants to be great.”
Blazers upset Raptors
In Portland, Damian Lillard had 24 points and the Trail Blazers snapped a two-game losing skid with a 128-122 victory over Toronto.
Zach Collins scored 16 points and Seth Curry added a season-high 13 as both were part of a Portland bench that outscored Toronto’s reserves 58-26.
Kawhi Leonard returned after missing two games and had 28 points for the Raptors, who played without All-Star Kyle Lowry. Danny Green added 19 points and 11 rebounds. – Rappler.com
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