Otto Porter scored 24 points, Bradley Beal added 23 and the Washington Wizards had a dominant second quarter in a 109-94 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night.
Kelly Oubre scored 16 of his 19 points in the first half to help fourth-place Washington move a half-game ahead of Indiana in the Eastern Conference standings.
The Wizards improved to 9-3 in an extended stretch without All-Star point guard John Wall (knee surgery).
Joel Embiid had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Philadelphia, which dropped a half-game behind Milwaukee into seventh place and two back of Washington in the congested East standings.
Ben Simmons added 16 points as the 76ers lost for the first time in eight games overall to settle for a 2-2 split of the season series. It was Philadelphia’s eighth consecutive loss in Washington.
The Wizards outscored the 76ers 37-20 in the second quarter to build a 67-48 lead by halftime. Oubre sparked the outburst, shooting 6 of 9 from the floor and 4 of 6 from beyond the arc in the first half.
Washington shot 60 percent as a team (27 of 45) before halftime and finished at 54.4 percent (43 of 79) to fight off a late comeback bid.
Philadelphia cut the deficit from 23 down to 14 in the third, and then got to within eight twice midway through the fourth.
Oubre had shot 28.6 percent (22 of 77) from the floor and 22.0 percent from 3-point range (9 of 41) over his last eight games prior to the All-Star break. In three games since the season resumed, he’s shooting 50 percent (17 of 34), including and 47.1 (8 of 17) percent from beyond the arc.
The 76ers play at Miami on Tuesday night. The Wizards play at Milwaukee on Tuesday night.
TIP-INS
76ers: Shot 19 more free throws than the Wizards, hitting 23 of 31 (74.2 percent). … C Amir Johnson returned to action after not playing in Saturday’s home win against Orlando. … Embiid had his 31st double-double of the season.
Wizards: Tomas Satoransky’s 10 assists were the second-most of his career. … Sunday marked the first of 13 consecutive games against teams that entered the day holding an NBA playoff position.
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