Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers dunks during the third quarter against the San Antonio Spurs at Wells Fargo Center on January 07, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images/AFP
Joel Embiid had 31 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to lift the host Philadelphia 76ers past the depleted San Antonio Spurs 119-100 on Friday.
Embiid, who went to the locker room before the game went final, reached at least 30 points for the sixth consecutive game.
Seth Curry and Tobias Harris contributed 23 points apiece for the Sixers, who matched a season best with their sixth win in a row.
Matisse Thybulle also had 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting.
Welcome to the Joel Embiid Show!
In his 6th straight game with 30+ points, @JoelEmbiid was in his bag !
🏀 31 PTS | 12 REB | 7 AST pic.twitter.com/yP81NIAF1x
— NBA (@NBA) January 8, 2022
The Sixers were fairly healthy with only a couple of key players out — Tyrese Maxey (health and safety protocol) and Shake Milton (back).
The Spurs were quite short-handed without Keldon Johnson, Derrick White, Doug McDermott, Thaddeus Young, Devin Vassell and Tre Jones in health and safety protocol.
Dejounte Murray led the Spurs with 27 points and nine assists. Jakob Poeltl added 17 points and Lonnie Walker IV had 13 for San Antonio, which has lost five of its last six games.
The Sixers built an early 20-point advantage and led 58-44 after Georges Niang’s 3-pointer with 3:11 left in the second quarter.
The Sixers went ahead 71-53 at halftime thanks in large part to Embiid’s 21 points. Philadelphia’s 71 first-half points was a season high.