Philadelphia 76ers beat Brooklyn Nets to claim Eastern Conference top spot
In the night’s other games, Luka Doncic and Stephen Curry dragged their teams to victory.
The Philadelphia 76ers moved into top spot in the NBA’s Eastern Conference after winning a heavyweight clash with the Brooklyn Nets by six points on Wednesday night.
Led by Joel Embiid’s 39 points and 13 rebounds, the 76ers edged the undermanned Nets 123-117 to move one win clear in the standings.
Tobias Harris contributed 26 points for Philadelphia while Ben Simmons had 17 as well as nine assists.
The Nets were without several big name stars including Kevin Durant, James Harden, Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge and were led by Kyrie Irving’s 37 points.
Luka Doncic hit an incredible buzzer-beating three-pointer to earn the Dallas Mavericks a 114-113 win at the Memphis Grizzlies.
Dallas trailed by two points with 1.8 seconds left when Doncic managed to find space and receive the inbound pass, before somehow getting a shot off as time expired to earn his side victory.
The Milwaukee Bucks, third in the East, recorded a 130-105 rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Khris Middleton had 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in just 25 minutes of game time for the Bucks, who were without reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo for a sixth game due to knee soreness.
Draymond Green’s triple-double and 42 points from Stephen Curry saw the Golden State Warriors thrash the Oklahoma City Thunder 147-109.
The Warriors’ third straight win kept them firmly in the mix for a play-off place.
The Los Angeles Clippers were missing key players Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Serge Ibaka and Patrick Beverley but still came from behind for a thrilling 100-98 win over the Detroit Pistons.
Third in the West against the last-placed team in the East, the Clippers were down by four points heading into the last quarter but managed to avoid an upset defeat as Reggie Jackson stepped up.
He ended up with 29 points, while Ivica Zubac had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Luke Kennard had 17 and 10.
Elsewhere, the Cleveland Cavaliers won 103-90 at the Charlotte Hornets, the Orlando Magic were 115-106 winners at the Chicago Bulls while the New York Knicks beat the New Orleans Pelicans 116-106.
The Indiana Pacers beat the Houston Rockets 132-124, the Washington Wizards won 123-111 at the Sacramento Kings, the Toronto Raptors saw off the San Antonio Spurs 117-112 while the Denver Nuggets eased to a 123-106 victory over the Miami Heat.
