Joel Embiid was back on the court for the 76ers on Tuesday night after missing 29 straight games while recovering from knee surgery.
Matt Slocum | AP photo
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Joel Embiid, center, recorded 24 points to help lead a comeback win over the Thunder.
Matt Slocum | AP photo
PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid returned to the Philadelphia 76ers lineup on Tuesday night, getting his first start in nearly two months after the reigning NBA MVP had knee surgery.
Embiid was cleared to return ahead of Philadelphia’s game against Oklahoma City and played for the first time since he was injured in the Sixers’ last game of January.
The Philadelphia star finished with 24 points, six rebounds, seven assists and three steals in 29 minutes as the Sixers rallied for a 109-105 win over the Thunder. Embiid finished 12-for-12 from the foul line and hit four free throws in the final 37 seconds to turn a 105-104 deficit into a 108-105 lead.
The Sixers plummeted in the Eastern Conference standings without him. A team playing for a top-four spot in the East before Embiid’s injury, the Sixers are 14-27 overall without him this season and 11-18 since he was injured in a Jan. 30 loss at Golden State.
“I want to get him out there and evaluate where we’re at,” coach Nick Nurse said.
Sixers fans were ready for the All-Star center’s return, chanting “MVP! MVP!” as Embiid warmed up. The Sixers played without All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey (hip tightness).
The Sixers entered Tuesday eighth in the East with seven games left this season and seem poised to make the play-in tournament. The No. 7 seed plays No. 8. The winner is in and gets the No. 7 seed for the playoffs. The loser has a second chance.
“I usually don’t worry about the seeding stuff,” Nurse said. “There is some common sense here that we need to get this team ready, whatever that means, to be the best they can be, if there’s a postseason.”
Embiid, a two-time NBA scoring champion, has averaged 35.3 points and 11.5 rebounds this season. He scored a franchise-record 70 points to go along with 18 rebounds on Jan. 22 in a 133-124 victory over San Antonio.
“He’s a really good defensive player. He’s a very good rim-protector,” Nurse said. “I think just his presence limits the quantity of number of drives you have at the basket. That’s always a really good starting point.”
Embiid had meniscus surgery on Feb. 6 after Golden State’s Jonathan Kuminga fell on the 7-footer’s left leg. Before that, Embiid had been held out because of left knee swelling in Philadelphia’s two previous games.
“One thing I give our team credit for is, they’ve continued to fight, with the idea of, let’s get better, let’s get better and when he gets back, we’ll be ready to go,” Nurse said. “There’s been a couple kind of punches to the gut along the way on that. For the most part, I’m super-happy with the way they’ve prepared and focused and the effort they’ve given.”
LAKERS 128, RAPTORS 111
TORONTO — LeBron James scored 23 points, Anthony Davis had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Los Angeles beat Toronto for a seventh win in eight games.
D’Angelo Russell shot 7 for 14 from 3-point range and scored 25 points, Rui Hachimura had 14 and Max Christie 12 as the Lakers handed slumping Toronto a 14th straight loss.
The NBA’s career scoring leader, James shot 10 for 12 and had nine assists.
James came in having matched his career high with nine 3-pointers in Sunday’s win at Brooklyn. The 20-time All-Star took just one shot from distance against the Raptors, connecting with 5.22 left in the third quarter.
Davis sat the entire fourth quarter, while James checked out with 9:22 remaining in the final period after Los Angeles extended its lead to 27, 109-82. The Lakers visit the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.
RJ Barrett scored 28 points and Immanuel Quickley added 20 for the Raptors. Toronto lost a franchise-worst 17 consecutive games in 1997-98.
Toronto’s Gary Trent Jr. sat to rest, while Barrett and Quickley returned after missing time because of personal reasons and reconditioning. The pair combined for 17 points in the first, but the Lakers closed the quarter with an 18-4 spurt to lead 34-25 after one.
Los Angeles held a 64-58 edge at the intermission. James and Davis each scored nine points in the third as the Lakers stretched their lead to 100-79 after three.
The Raptors remained without five injured players, including starters Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl. Toronto two-way player Jontay Porter missed his fifth straight game as he remains under investigation for gambling allegations.
Raptors guard Bruce Brown left in the fourth because of a sore right knee.
Lakers forward Cam Reddish was not available for personal reasons, while guard Gabe Vincent sat on the opening night of the back-to-back games as he returns from left knee surgery.
WIZARDS 117, BUCKS 113
WASHINGTON — Corey Kispert scored 27 points and Deni Avdija added 23 to help Washington beat Milwaukee despite Giannis Antetokounmpo’s triple-double.
Antetokounmpo had 35 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists and reached double figures in all three categories by the end of the third quarter. That wasn’t enough for Milwaukee, which came into the night with a 2 1/2-game lead over Cleveland for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Jordan Poole had 16 points and a career-high 13 assists for Washington, and Jared Butler provided a lift off the bench with 17 points. Tristan Vukcevic, a 7-foot rookie from Serbia whom the Wizards signed in the middle of last month, scored 14. His previous career high was six.
Washington led 58-54 at halftime, then began the third quarter on a 12-1 run to stretch the lead to 15. Milwaukee shot 11 of 48 from 3-point range on the night, but the Bucks finally made a few near the end of the third, including Jae Crowder’s shot at the buzzer that cut the lead to five.
It was down to two in the fourth, but Washington was able to hold on. A 3-pointer by Kispert made it 113-106, and with Milwaukee down by four in the final minute, Antetokounmpo lost the ball inside.
The Bucks got it back and called timeout with 21.9 seconds remaining. Khris Middleton made a layup, but Anthony Gill got free behind Milwaukee’s press for a layup with 8.3 seconds to play that pushed the lead back to four.
Milwaukee was playing without star guard Damian Lillard (right groin strain), and Kyle Kuzma (right heel contusion) was out for the Wizards. Bucks coach Doc Rivers said Lillard could be back as early as Wednesday night.
The Bucks lost Patrick Beverley in the third quarter after Poole slipped while driving to the basket and fell into Beverley’s left leg. Both players were shaken up, although Poole was able to play on.