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Embiid could be seen wincing in pain at times
with back pain and was stretching on the baseline during some
timeouts.
Tobias Harris contributed 24 points, 15 rebounds and five
assists while Danny Green had 12 points for the Sixers, who
snapped their three-game losing streak. Tyrese Maxey had 10 off
the bench for the 76ers.
Ben Simmons was a late scratch with a stomach illness while top
reserve Shake Milton remained out with an ankle injury.
John Wall led the struggling Rockets with 26 of his 28 points in
the second half while DeMarcus Cousins and Jae'Sean Tate each
had 19. Eric Gordon scored 17 and Ben McLemore 11 for Houston,
which has dropped seven in a row.
The short-handed Rockets played without a number of key injured
players such as Victor Oladipo, Christian Wood and P.J. Tucker.
But they received a lift with the return of Gordon from a groin
strain.
Furkan Korkmaz converted a tough layup with 5:35 left in the
second quarter to boost the Sixers' lead to 57-34.
Houston committed 13 turnovers in the first half and the Sixers
capitalized by going ahead 69-43. Philadelphia made 11 treys in
the first half. Wall struggled mightily, missing 5 of 6 shots
with five turnovers by halftime.
When Embiid stuck a short jumper nearly three minutes after the
half, Philadelphia held a 29-point lead at 78-49.
The Rockets' frustration was evident late in the third quarter
down by 20 when Wall was whistled for a technical foul.
Philadelphia, which had seven turnovers in the third, still held
a 96-79 advantage at the end of the quarter.
After the Rockets quickly got within 14 early in the fourth,
Dwight Howard and Maxey each hit a pair of free throws to move
the Sixers back ahead 100-82.
Amazingly, the Sixers went through a stretch with 14 straight
missed field goals.
When Wall drove to the basket and scored with 5:47 remaining,
the Rockets trailed 104-93. Wall soon made consecutive
3-pointers and 1 of 2 free throws with 1:28 left to close within
110-106.
Embiid responded with a corner jumper to extend the lead to
112-106 as the Sixers held on down the stretch.
--Field Level Media
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