Joel Embiid nearly pulls off miracle as Phoenix Suns hold off Philadelphia 76ers
Embiid barely missed a full-court shot at the buzzer which would have tied the game for Philadelphia.
An incredible near-miss from Joel Embiid was all that separated the Suns and Sixers as Phoenix held off Philadelphia 116-113.
The title contenders battled each other through four tight quarters before Chris Paul was given an opportunity to ice the game at the free throw line.
However, Paul missed his attempt and the ball rebounded into the hands of Embiid with just under a second left to play.
He immediately put up a full-court, one-handed heave which bounced between the back and front of the rim but unfortunately did not go in, sealing Philadelphia’s fate.
It took yet another overtime, but the New York Knicks managed to outlast the Atlanta Hawks 137-127 to extend their winning-streak to an NBA-best eighth-straight game.
A late three-pointer from Atlanta’s Bojan Bogdanovic sent the game into extra time before the Knicks ultimately ran away with it.
The win marked the third overtime victory of New York’s streak as they improved to fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
The Brooklyn Nets felt the absence of James Harden and Kevin Durant as they went down to the Toronto Raptors 114-103.
Kyrie Irving did his best to will the Nets to victory, finishing with 28 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, but his performance alone was not enough to stop the Raptors from clinching a vital win.
Pascal Siakam led the way for Toronto with 27 points and nine rebounds to keep the Raptors within arms-length of the play-in tournament.
After a historic scoring run of 78 threes in his last 11 games, Steph Curry fell back to Earth against the Washington Wizards.
He was held to just 18 points as Bradley Beal’s 29 points and Russell Westbrook’s 20 rebounds lifted the Wizards over the Golden State Warriors 118-114.
The Miami Heat look to be finding form at the right time of the year, picking up their third win in-a-row with a 107-87 demolition of the San Antonio Spurs.
Nikola Jokic posted 25 points, including the pivotal free throws, as the Denver Nuggets edged the Portland Trail Blazers 106-105.
The Sacramento Kings recovered from a heavy last-start loss to Minnesota to eclipse the Timberwolves 128-125.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers, Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks rounded out the day’s winners.
