Joel Embiid 53 points, Charlotte Hornets v Philadelphia 76ers, AJ Griffin game winner, Chicago Bulls v Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks v Houston Rockets, scores, results, highlights

Joel Embiid erupted for 53 points to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a big home win over the Charlotte Hornets 131-113.

Embiid shot 20-of-32 from the field and 11-of-11 from the foul line and added 12 rebounds in a dominant performance and became the first player this season with multiple 50 point games.

Meanwhile James Harden just fell shy of a triple-double with 19 points, nine rebounds and 16 assists and the Sixers improved to 14-12 on the season.

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“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.

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“I’m just happy I’m contributing when we’re winning,” Embiid said. It was left for 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,” he added.

“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.”

After a slow start from both sides, Philadelphia edged ahead in the second term to take a 61-54 lead into half-time.

The Sixers looked like blowing Charlotte out in the third, going up 81-62 after a De’Athony Melton three with 7:32 remaining in the period, but the Hornets closed out the quarter well to stay within striking distance.

Embiid then put Philly on his back down the stretch of the fourth to help close out the win.

Terry Rozier and Kelly Oubre chipped in 29 points each for the undermanned Hornets, who are missing Gordon Hayward and LaMelo Ball, as they fell to 7-20.

ROCKETS STUN BUCKS, MIDDLETON INJURED AGAIN

The Houston Rockets have produced a huge upset win over the Milwaukee Bucks 97-82 behind a 30-point outing from Jalen Green.

The Rockets stayed with Milwaukee all contest and had the answers down the stretch including shooting 5-of-6 from the free throw line in the final minute of play.

Green made two free throws with 34 seconds left to put the Rockets up two before Grayson Allen turned the ball over lobbing to Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Jabari Smith was fouled by Antetokounmpo after grabbing the rebound and made both his foul shots to ice the win – marking Houston’s fourth in a row at home.

The Rockets were coached by assistant John Lucas, with incumbent Stephen Silas away from the team following the death of his father and former NBA player Paul Silas.

Jrue Holiday topscored for Milwaukee with 24, adding eight assists and three steals, and Antetokounmpo had 16 points and 18 boards.

But the Bucks were dealt an unfortunate injury blow, with Khris Middleton, who was playing in his fifth game back after off-season wrist surgery, suffering an ankle injury after just six minutes that, despite him initially playing through, caused him to miss the rest of the game.

It snapped a four-game winning streak for Milwaukee to drop to 19-7 on the season,

ELSEWHERE …

LeBron James and Anthony Davis combined for 69 points to help the LA Lakers take down the Detroit Pistons 124-117 and improve to 11-15 to stay in the Western Conference playoff hunt.

Davis was particularly impressive to continue his epic line of form, scoring 34 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field and 10-of-12 from the foul line to go with 15 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block.

James (37 years, 346 days) meanwhile became the oldest player in Lakers history to post at least 35 points, five plus rebounds and five plus assists in a game, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s previous record.

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

Bojdan Bodanovic led the way for Detroit with a game-high 38 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Pistons fell to 7-22 – the NBA’s worst record.

In Atlanta, the Hawks outlasted the Chicago Bulls in overtime 123-122 after 19-year old rookie AJ Griffin finished an alley-oop shot at the buzzer with 0.5 seconds remaining.

It came after DeMar DeRozan, who scored 34 points with 13 rebounds and eight assists, had put the Bulls ahead with three free throws on the previous play.

“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.

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.

ALL RESULTS

SUNS 124 PELICANS 129