Basketball: Embiid sparkles in Sixers win while Morant return spoiled
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Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid (right) drives the ball against Boston Celtics' Enes Freedom at TD Garden on Dec 20, 2021.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Joel Embiid scored 41 points and sparked an undermanned Philadelphia squad to victory at Boston on Monday (Dec 20) while Oklahoma City spoiled the NBA return of Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant.
Cameroonian big man Embiid also delivered 10 rebounds, five assists, four blocked shots and his last of two steals in the dying seconds to deny the Celtics a chance at a tying three-pointer in powering the 76ers over the Celtics 108-103.
The impressive all-round performance together with 26 points by Seth Curry and 25 by Tobias Harris enabled the Sixers (16-15) to snap a three-game losing run despite being down Shake Milton due to Covid-19 protocols and Tyrese Maxey with a quad injury.
"I thought we had a calm tonight," said 76ers coach Doc Rivers. "The guys were in a great mental place. They really wanted it. You could sense it."
Jaylen Brown led Boston (15-16) with 30 points.
In Memphis, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander seized the game down the stretch and finished with 23 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals to lead the Thunder over the host Grizzlies 102-99.
It was a measure of revenge for Oklahoma City. The Grizzlies had beaten the Thunder by an NBA-record 73 points, 152-79, on the same court earlier this month.
Morant, Memphis' scoring and assist leader, ended a 12-game layoff for a left knee sprain and had 16 points and eight assists but couldn't spark the Grizzlies late on.
"I was really trusting my knee," Morant said.
Morant's jumper put Memphis ahead 95-94 but Gilgeous-Alexander passed to Josh Giddey for an uncontested lay-up, then scored one of his own and followed up with a steal and two free throws to give the Thunder a 100-95 edge as Memphis missed a desperation half-court three-pointer at the buzzer.
"We executed well on defence," said Giddey, who had 19 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
"We knew our coverages and we stuck with them well."
French centre Rudy Gobert scored 23 points and grabbed 21 rebounds to spark the Utah Jazz over the visiting Charlotte Hornets 112-102.
Gobert made a career-high 15 free throws in 16 trips to the line and matched a career best with his sixth game in one season of 20 or more rebounds.
Croatian Bojan Bogdanovic also scored 23 points while Donovan Mitchell had 21 for the Jazz, who also got 13 rebounds from Royce O'Neale.
"We started the game well right away. We were hitting the shots," Bogdanovic said.
"Rudy really dominated in the paint. He played great."
LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges each scored 21 to lead Charlotte, who fell behind 35-16 after the first quarter.
In San Francisco, Stephen Curry scored a game-high 30 points and Draymond Green delivered a triple-double with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists as well as contributing two blocked shots and two steals in Golden State's 113-98 victory over the visiting Sacramento Kings.
Curry was applauded by Warriors fans in his first home game since breaking the NBA's all-time three-pointers record.
Golden State became the first NBA team to 25 wins this season and at 25-6, moved within percentage points of the Phoenix Suns for the league's best record.
