Joel Embiid added to his MVP argument on Saturday afternoon with 41 points on 14-of-17 shooting and a season-high 20 rebounds, leading the Philadelphia 76ers to a 133-120 win over the visiting Indiana Pacers.
Embiid started hot out of the gate, scoring Philadelphia’s first six points. He went into halftime with a double-double and finished with his third career 40/20 game, his first since Aug. 1, 2020 — also against Indiana. He added four assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
Philadelphia got 22 points and 14 assists from James Harden, while Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey each scored 18 points. Danny Green added 15 points and made four 3-pointers.
Oshae Brissett led seven Pacers in double figures with 20 points, including 3-of-5 on 3-pointers. Tyrese Haliburton added 19 points and dished nine assists, Isaiah Jackson finished with 16 points and seven rebounds, the latter matching Brissett for a team high.
Grizzlies 141, Pelicans 114
Ja Morant returned from a nine-game absence and host Memphis had a record scoring quarter in a rout of New Orleans.
Morant, who had been sidelined due to a sore right knee, scored 21 points and dished out nine assists in 27 minutes. The Grizzlies, locked into the second seed in the Western Conference, produced the highest-scoring quarter in franchise history when they outscored the Pelicans 55-33 in the third quarter. Dillon Brooks scored 23 points and Brandon Clarke added 20.
CJ McCollum scored 16 points and Willy Hernangomez had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Pelicans, who made 6 of 30 long-range shots.
Warriors 100, Spurs 94
Jordan Poole scored 18 points, including four key late free throws, to help Golden State hold on to defeat host San Antonio in the penultimate game of the regular season for both teams.
The contest was the first of back-to-backs for both squads, with the Spurs heading to Dallas on Sunday while the Warriors travel to New Orleans to wrap up the regular season. Golden State can clinch the third spot in the Western Conference with a win against the Pelicans.
San Antonio’s Lonnie Walker IV led all scorers with 24 points. The loss relegated the Spurs to 10th place in the West; San Antonio will play at New Orleans in the play-in tournament on Wednesday.
Clippers 117, Kings 98
Paul George scored a team-high 23 points in 34 minutes and host Los Angeles tuned up for its upcoming appearance in the Western Conference play-in tournament by beating Sacramento.
Norman Powell chipped in with 20 points off the bench in his second game after a two-month absence for the eighth-seeded Clippers, who will visit the seventh-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday in the play-in opener.
Davion Mitchell had a team-high 22 points for the Kings.
-Field Level Media