Joel Embiid had 40 points and 11 rebounds and the host Philadelphia 76ers held off the New Orleans Pelicans 124-114 on Saturday night.
Kelly Oubre Jr. added 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Tyrese Maxey scored 18. VJ Edgecombe had 15 points, and Jared McCain added 12 for the Sixers.
Saddiq Bey scored 34 points, Trey Murphy III had 19, Jeremiah Fears scored 12, Zion Williamson had 11 and Jose Alvarado recorded 10 for the Pelicans.
Philadelphia led by 14 points early in the third quarter before Bey scored seven straight New Orleans points and Murphy added a 3-pointer to trim the lead to 80-74. The Pelicans got within six points twice more, the second time being 87-81 at the end of the period.
Alvarado made a 3-pointer to start the fourth-quarter scoring, and Williamson added four points to pull the Pelicans within 90-88. Embiid made a 3-pointer, but New Orleans got within two points on two more occasions.
Consecutive baskets by Embiid and Edgecombe gave Philadelphia a 102-96 lead. Alvarado’s 3-pointer and Bey’s field goal completed an 11-2 run that gave New Orleans a 107-104 lead.
The score was tied twice more before Embiid made a jumper, Dominick Barlow dunked and Embiid made a free throw to spur a 16-6 run that put the Sixers in charge.
Murphy missed all seven of his 3-point attempts in a win against Memphis on Friday, but he made his first attempt to give New Orleans the biggest lead of the first quarter, 14-8. After that, the score was tied three times and the lead changed hands six times, the last coming when Micah Peavy’s 3-pointer gave the Pelicans a 33-31 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Trendon Watford scored five points, Embiid had four and Philadelphia began the second quarter with a 14-5 spurt that produced a 45-38 lead. The Sixers later pushed the lead to nine on a 3-pointer by McCain.
Embiid’s six points and Oubre’s field goal extended the lead to 15 before Murphy’s dunk left the Sixers with a 67-54 halftime lead.
