LOS ANGELES (AFP) — The Philadelphia 76ers, fueled by 36 points from Tyrese Maxey and a triple-double from Joel Embiid, beat the Houston Rockets 128-122 in a National Basketball Association (NBA) overtime thriller on Thursday.
The Cameroonian big man Embiid scored 32 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out 10 assists, posting the ninth triple-double of his career to help the Sixers end the Rockets’ three-game winning streak.
Rockets star Kevin Durant scored 36 points and Amen Thompson added 17, but Thompson was scoreless in the fourth quarter.
Even so, the Rockets led by nine midway through the final frame, Maxey tying it at 115-115 with 40.1 seconds left.
Durant missed a potential go-ahead basket then blocked a Maxey shot as they went to overtime, the Sixers arguing for a goaltending call that would have sealed a win for them but didn’t come.
Philadelphia opened the extra session with five straight points and held on for a win punctuated by a Maxey dunk.
“We locked in,” Embiid said. “Obviously it starts on defense. We played faster, we didn’t walk the ball up. At the end of fourth and overtime we executed.”
Embiid said Philadelphia did a better job guarding Durant in the second half.
“Obviously, it’s KD,” he said.