Joel Embiid’s 36 leads Sixers past Wizards

Joel Embiid had 36 points and 13 rebounds Sunday, December 26 to lift the Philadelphia 76ers past the host Washington Wizards 117-96.

Tobias Harris scored 23 points and Furkan Korkmaz contributed 14 for the Sixers. Tyrese Maxey scored 13 and Seth Curry had 11.

The Sixers were without Andre Drummond, Danny Green and Shake Milton in health and safety protocols.

Washington was missing Bradley Beal, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Raul Neto in health and safety protocols.

Spencer Dinwiddie led the Wizards with 17 points and Montrezl Harrell scored 15 before being ejected. Davis Bertans had 14 and Kyle Kuzma chipped in with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Wizards had a two-game winning streak snapped.

Washington led 31-25 after the first quarter, but when Harris grabbed an offensive rebound and scored, the Sixers had gained a 57-51 lead and behind Embiid’s 18 first-half points held a 63-55 advantage at the break.

Harrell kept the Wizards close with 13 points in 14 minutes off the bench.

Embiid’s 3-pointer with 8:04 left in the third quarter expanded the Philadelphia lead to 74-59. After a pair of empty Wizards possessions, Harris made a short jumper and Embiid scored in the lane to make it a 19-point game.

Washington went nearly seven minutes without a field goal, going 0-for-12 in that stretch.

Bertans snapped the shooting skid with a trey to draw Washington within 80-64.

Embiid and Harrell were then involved in a scrum with 3:04 left in the third, and although no flagrant fouls were called, Harrell was soon ejected with a second technical foul after shoving Embiid.

The Sixers led 92-72 at the end of the third.

The Wizards sliced the deficit to 13 points four minutes into the period, but the Sixers responded with a runner in the lane from Maxey and a trey from Curry for a 103-85 advantage.

Philadelphia cruised to the victory from there. – Rappler.com