Joel Embiid, Sixers sink Jazz in final seconds

Joel Embiid hit a game-winning shot with five seconds left and James Harden fired in 18 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 118-117 win over the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City on Saturday, January 14 (Sunday, January 15, Manila time).

Embiid finished with 30 points and 7 rebounds, Tyrese Maxey scored 21 points, and Shake Milton contributed 17 as the 76ers began a five-game Western Conference road trip on the right note.

Jordan Clarkson led the shorthanded Jazz with 38 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. He momentarily put Utah ahead with a go-ahead bucket with 13 seconds left, 117-116, after the Jazz rallied out of a 20-point, first-half deficit.

Talen Horton-Tucker scored 20 points off the bench for Utah, which played without four regulars, including leading scorer Lauri Markkanen, who was sidelined with a left hip contusion.

Rookie Walker Kessler totaled 15 points and 12 rebounds and Mike Conley added 14 points and 8 assists for the Jazz, who had won two in a row.

The Sixers led the majority of the way after storming to a 20-point lead in the first quarter.

Trailing by 16, Utah pulled within 5 with 3:18 left in the first half thanks to an 11-0 run that included back-to-back dunks by Kessler and consecutive buckets from Clarkson.

Philadelphia went into the locker room at the half up 66-56 after Embiid banked in a three-pointer with 1.6 seconds remaining.

Embiid gave the 76ers a 10-point lead in the third quarter with a three-point play. Utah responded with a 9-0 run to cut the lead to one.

Utah scored the final 5 points of the third quarter and then pulled even at 90-90 in the fourth on a Clarkson basket.

The 76ers regained an eight-point lead with an 11-3 run, including three tripless by Harden in a minute-and-a-half stretch.

Clarkson kept the Jazz in it with 17 points in the fourth quarter. After Embiid split a pair of free throws, Kessler tipped in a Clarkson miss to give the Jazz their first lead of the game, 115-114, with 33.9 seconds remaining.

The teams traded leads in the waning moments, with Harden making a short jumper followed by Clarkson hitting his go-ahead shot prior to Embiid’s game-winner. – Rappler.com