The Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid, center, goes up for a shot against the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Rudy Gobert, right, and Karl-Anthony Towns during the first half of an NBA game Wednesday in Philadelphia.
AP photo
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PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid scored a season-high 51 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers used a big fourth quarter to close out the Minnesota Timberwolves for a 127-113 win on Wednesday night.
Tyrese Maxey scored 35 points as Philadelphia (19-8) won for the seventh time in eight games, bouncing back nicely after a 108-104 loss to Chicago on Monday night.
Minnesota (20-6) got 27 points from Anthony Edwards, 23 points from Karl-Anthony Towns and 21 from Jaden McDaniels. The Timberwolves entered Wednesday night as winners of nine of its last 10 games and possessors of the league’s best record.
It was Embiid’s seventh career game with at least 50 points. He also recorded his 12th straight game with 30 or more points and 10-plus rebounds. It is the NBA’s longest such streak since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it in 16 straight games for the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1971-72 season.
The only other players to have 12 or more games of 30-10 in NBA history besides Embiid and Abdul-Jabbar are Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and Walt Bellamy.
A game that was billed as a clash of defensive styles turned toward the Sixers during an impressive display of offensive moves by Embiid in the third quarter. He scored 19 of Philadelphia’s 26 points in the period and kept the Sixers in the lead at 90-87 going into the fourth.
Maxey scored 15 points in the final quarter, most of that coming during a five-minute stretch at the beginning of the period when Embiid was on the bench. No other Philadelphia player scored in double figures for the second game in a row.
Philadelphia ended up losing starting guard De’Anthony Melton in the second half with a left thigh contusion.
Nuggets 113, Raptors 104
TORONTO — Nikola Jokic had 31 points and 15 rebounds, Canadian guard Jamal Murray scored 20 points in his only regular season appearance north of the border and the Denver Nuggets beat the Toronto Raptors.
Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. each scored 12 points and Peyton Watson had 11 as Denver won for the fifth time in six games and evened its road record at 8-8.
Jokic shot 13 for 23 and led the Nuggets with six assists, including a behind-the-back dish to Gordon in the first quarter.
Scottie Barnes had 30 points, two shy of his career-high, and 10 rebounds for Toronto. Pascal Siakam added 18 points for the Raptors.
Toronto came in having won five of seven home meetings with the Nuggets. In their most recent home matchup on March 14, the Raptors used a franchise-record 49-point first quarter to win 125-110, but they couldn’t duplicate that feat Wednesday.
Pacers 144, Hornets 113
INDIANAPOLIS — Buddy Hield scored 25 points, Tyrese Haliburton had 19 points and 13 assists and the Indiana Pacers snapped a four-game losing streaking, routing the Charlotte Hornets behind 61% shooting.
The Pacers made 28 of 30 free throws and led by 33. Aaron Nesmith added 19 points, Myles Turner had 18, Bennedict Mathurin 14 and Jalen Smith and Isaiah Jackson 10 apiece. T.J. McConnell had nine points, nine assists and five rebounds.
Terry Rozier had 25 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Charlotte, and rookie Brandon Miller added 21 points and six rebounds. The Hornets shot 47% from the field, making only eight 3-pointers to the Pacers’ 18.
Playing without starting point guard LaMelo Ball and center Mark Williams, the Hornets dropped their sixth in a row to fall to 7-19. Ball, averaging 24.7 points, 8.2 assists and 5.5 rebounds, missed his 11th straight game because of a sprained right ankle. Williams, averaging 12.7 points and 9.7 rebounds, sat out his sixth in a row due to a back contusion.
Indiana led 31-29 at the end of the first quarter, 71-60 at halftime and 107-86 entering the final period. Charlotte never led by more than two.