Basketball: Embiid scores 53 to lead Philadelphia's romp as Pelicans dim Suns

New York – Joel Embiid unleashed a spectacular 53-point performance on Sunday to power the Philadelphia 76ers to a 131-113 win over the Charlotte Hornets, becoming the

first National Basketball Association player with multiple 50-point games this season.

The 28-year-old Cameroonian made 20 of 32 shots from the floor, including two of three from three-point range and all 11 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed 12 rebounds.

“He made scoring look easy tonight,” said three-time NBA scoring champion James Harden, who had 19 points, 16 assists and nine rebounds.

“He was in attack mode the entire game... His jump shot was falling. He had an aggressive night.”

Embiid, who scored a career-high 59 points last month in a victory over Utah, became only the third 76ers player to achieve multiple 50-point games in a season, joining Allen Iverson and Wilt Chamberlain.

“The ball just found me,” he said.

“I thought we moved the ball well all night and the ball just found me...

“We have a saying that you have to feed the hot hand... You got to keep feeding them until the defence stops it once or twice or three times in that situation.

“I just kept scoring and they just kept giving me the ball.

‘’We won. It’s good to do that when you win... I’m just happy that I’m contributing when we are winning.”

Tobias Harris added 17 points for the Sixers, who won their second straight game while De’Anthony Melton chipped in with 12 and Shake Milton had 11.

Tyrese Maxey sat out for an 11th consecutive game with a fractured left foot.

Terry Rozier and Kelly Oubre Jr led the Hornets with 29 points apiece. Jalen McDaniels had 15 and Mason Plumlee swiped 12 rebounds for Charlotte, who have dropped five in a row.

The Hornets played without a number of key players including LaMelo Ball (ankle), Gordon Hayward (shoulder), Dennis Smith Jr (ankle), Cody Martin (knee) and Mark Williams (ankle).

It was left to Embiid’s teammates to put his feats in perspective for the 76ers (14-12).

“It has been amazing to watch,” said Montrezl Harrell.

“He’s a skilled player. He does so many things for our team on the offensive end of the floor and defensively as well.”

“For him to come out and have a dominant game on both ends of the floor just shows you how great a player he is.”

The Hornets (7-20) managed to keep within striking distance of the 76ers on the back of Oubre and Rozier’s performances, before Embiid, last year’s runner-up in the NBA Most Valuable Player stakes, helped put them away with 14 points in the fourth quarter.

Said Hornets coach Steve Clifford: ‘‘We had good intent tonight.

“The first six or seven minutes of the game, we had good defence.

“Our transition defence was a problem tonight and we have to fix that.”

Meanwhile, Zion Williamson scored 35 points to lead the New Orleans Pelicans to their seventh consecutive triumph.

The Pelicans defeated the Phoenix Suns 129-124 in overtime to stay atop the Western Conference.

C.J. McCollum added 29 points for New Orleans (18-8) while Deandre Ayton led the Suns (16-11) with 28 points and 12 rebounds.

Phoenix’s Chris Paul made a jumper with four seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to pull the Suns level at 117-117 and force extra time.

But McCollum had four points in a 10-2 Pelicans’ overtime run to grab the victory.

LeBron James had 35 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Anthony Davis contributed 34 points 15 rebounds and seven assists to power the Los Angeles Lakers over host Detroit 124-117.

“It was a must win for us. We knew that,” Davis said. “We stayed resilient and kept fighting.”

Bojan Bogdanovic had a game-high 38 points for the NBA-worst Pistons (7-22).

The night’s most incredible finish came in Atlanta, where 19-year-old rookie A.J. Griffin was the hero for the Hawks.

He caught an inbounds pass from Jalen Johnson, twisted his body, shot the ball from the paint and made the game-winning basket at the buzzer in overtime to deliver a 123-122 triumph over the Chicago Bulls.

AFP

“Coach drew up a great play and JJ, that was a great pass,” Griffin said.

Bogdan Bogdanovic came off the bench to lead Atlanta with 28 points, while Trae Young added 19 points and 14 assists and Griffin had 17 points.

DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 34 points and 13 rebounds.

Jalen Green scored 30 points to lead host Houston’s 97-92 triumph over Milwaukee, despite the Bucks getting 25 points from Jrue Holiday plus 16 points and 18 rebounds from Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Bucks saw the NBA’s second-best record slide to 19-7, 1.5 games behind Eastern Conference leader Boston, while the Western Conference doormat Rockets improved to 8-18.

Germany’s Franz Wagner scored 23 points and 2022 NBA Draft top pick Paolo Banchero added 20 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Orlando Magic in a 111-99 home victory over Toronto.

R. J. Barrett and Julius Randle each delivered 27 points to lead the New York Knicks over visiting Sacramento 112-99.