PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Joel Embiid had 39 points, 13 rebounds and six assists to help the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Brooklyn Nets 123-110 on Thursday night.
JJ Redick added 18 points, and Ben Simmons had 16 points and eight assists. The 76ers snapped a two-game losing streak.
The game matched teams that would’ve met in the first round of the playoffs had the postseason started Thursday. The 76ers have a strong hold on the No. 3 seed in the East with seven games remaining, and they moved three games ahead of idle Indiana.
Joe Harris scored 22 points and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 19 for Brooklyn.
HEAT 105, MAVERICKS 99
MIAMI (AP) - Goran Dragic had 23 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his second career triple-double, Dwyane Wade capped the win with a steal and score in the final seconds and Miami beat Dallas to move back into eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Dragic outdueled Luka Doncic in the first head-to-head meeting between the only two Slovenians currently in the NBA, and Miami moved past Orlando for the final playoff spot in the East race.
Doncic scored 19 points for the Mavericks, but missed 12 of his 18 shots.
BUCKS 128, CLIPPERS 118
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Giannis Antetokounmpo had 34 points and nine rebounds before leaving with an apparent lower leg injury and Milwaukee ended Los Angeles’ winning streak at six games.
Antetokounmpo went to the floor and held his right ankle after dunking with 7:46 left, and he immediately went to the bench and didn’t return. He missed two games last week with a sprain to the same ankle.
Khris Middleton had a season-high 39 points with eight rebounds and five assists for Milwaukee. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Clippers with 21 points.
ROCKETS 112, NUGGETS 85
HOUSTON (AP) - James Harden scored 38 points and Houston used a 40-point second quarter to rout Denver.
Clint Capela had 13 points and 11 rebounds by halftime and finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds
Jamal Murray had 20 points for Denver. The Nuggets dropped a game behind Golden State for the Western Conference lead with their second loss in three games.
SPURS 116, CAVALIERS 110
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - DeMar DeRozan had 25 points and San Antonio celebrated Manu Ginobili’s number retirement ceremony by beating Cleveland.
Collin Sexton had 24 points for Cleveland, Kevin Love added 18 and the lowly Cavaliers nearly put a damper on the emotional night.
Ginobili became the ninth Spurs player to have his No. 20 retired, joining fellow Big Three teammate Tim Duncan as the most recently honored. The Argentine star spent his entire 16-year NBA career with San Antonio, winning four championships.
PISTONS 115, MAGIC 98
DETROIT (AP) - Wayne Ellington scored 17 of his 25 points in the third quarter and Detroit beat Orlando.
Blake Griffin added 20 points and 10 rebounds, Andre Drummond had 18 points and 18 rebounds, and Ish Smith scored 15 points. Aaron Gordon scored 20 points for Orlando.
PELICANS 121, KINGS 118
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Julius Randle capped a 34-point, 11-rebound night with a driving left-handed bank shot between two defenders with 8 seconds left and New Orleans beat Sacramento.
Buddy Hield scored 27 points for the Kings, but his 3-point attempt for the tie in the final seconds rimmed out to New Orleans center Christian Wood, sending the Kingsto a loss that put them on the brink of mathematical elimination from playoff contention.
Wood, playing in just his third game for New Orleans since being waived by Milwaukee, had 25 points, nine rebounds and three steals. De’Aaron Fox had 25 points and 12 assists for the Kings.
RAPTORS 117, KNICKS 92
NEW YORK (AP) - Pascal Siakam scored 31 points and Toronto routed New York for the second time in 11 nights.
Toronto rested Kawhi Leonard, just as it did in its 128-92 victory at home March 18. Rookie Mitchell Robinson had season highs of 19 points and 21 rebounds for the Knicks.
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