Philadelphia, PA—Joel Embiid put in the work in his off season regiment, this season he is playing like a man child on a mission.
Philly dominated in their 131-123 overtime win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Center.
Joel scored 40 points, 19 boards, three assists, two blocks and one steal, while Donovan Mitchell countered with 33, eight rebounds and six assists on 12-of-34 shooting from the field.
The Jazz shot 59.1% from the field and made 6 of 10 three-pointers en route to taking a 34-26 lead into the second quarter.
Utah extended its lead to 43-30 with Mike Conley’s three-pointer with 9 minutes, 7 seconds left in the half. The Jazz made 7 of 11 three-pointers compared to the Sixers’ 1 of 5 from the floor.
Philadelphia pulled within five points (52-47) on Harris’ layup with 3:03 before the break. But Mitchell responded with a basket in the lane.
The Sixers set the tone in third quarter and went on a 17-11 run to trim the gap to three (72-69) on Curry’s trey with 7:21 left in the quarter. Philly pulled within three points two other times in the third quarter. On both occasions, Utah responded with timely baskets en route to building an 11-point lead late in the third.
Mitchell was very frustrated with Wednesday’s officiating and may be facing a fine by the league for his comments.
“I’m never ever one to blame the refereeing, but this is getting out of hand,” Mitchell, who was ejected with two technical fouls, told the media. “We continually get screwed. We won this game in my opinion. It’s getting f–king ridiculous. I’m sick of it. It eats at me. It’s really getting out of hand.”
The Jazz looked like they were going to close the game in regulation, Conley’s two free throws put the Jazz up 118-115 with 21.5 seconds left in regulation. Embiid stepped back and hit a long three with 5.9 seconds remaining. Conley quickly drove the length of the court and had a chance to win it, but his runner in the lane rimmed out.
Utah still has the best record in the league at 27-9, they have lost three of four during this stretch of the season.
The 76ers shot 35 free throws from the charity stripe to Utah’s 19 with Embiid going to the line 13 times.
Ben Simmons added 17 points for the 76ers, who improved to 24-12.
Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic chipped in 18 points apiece for the Jazz.
Mitchell was ejected with 30.8 seconds left in overtime after picking up his second technical. He got his first with 57.5 seconds remaining in the extra period after arguing a call.
Harris took over the game for the Sixers in overtime, scoring the first eight points and giving them a 126-123 lead on a turnaround jumper with 1:37 left. Philadelphia sealed it on their next possession when Mitchell was whistled for a technical and Seth Curry made the free throw, and Embiid made one of two from the stripe earned to make it 128-123.
“A win,” the Sixers coach Doc Rivers said before the 131-123 overtime win. “Honestly, I don’t know if I look for anything, one or the other. You know, it’s just another game in a long season.”
Rudy Gobert has had recent success against Embiid, but Wednesday night was different as Embiid made 14 of 27 shots. The Jazz center finished with 12 points and nine boards.
UP NEXT
Jazz: Host Houston on March 12.
76ers: At Chicago on March 11.
