Sixers hold off Clippers, win 106-103

The 76ers continued their winning streak last night, grabbing their fourth straight, in a battle against the Los Angeles Clippers. Although the Clippers were without Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and company still brought everything they had to South Philadelphia in a game that went down to the closing seconds. Philly started the game scorching hot, and ran up the score to 20-3 early in the first quarter. The Clippers wouldn’t go away and bounced back quickly and even took the lead late in the fourth quarter.
Joel Embiid had yet another fantastic game, scoring 36 points and 14 rebounds on 50% shooting. The Clippers had no answer for Embiid and had to resort to fouling, sending Joel to the line 18 times. Embiid made them pay, scoring 16-of-18 from the strip. Tonight was Embiid’s third straight game over 36 points, the first of this in his career.
Furkan Korkmaz has been doing fantastic in his increased role of late. Tonight he was second in scoring behind Embiid with 18 points, 15 of which were beyond the arc. Kork had a huge and-one off a fantastic pass from Ben Simmons to help seal this game for the Sixers. Danny Green was a thief in the night, snatching four steals for the Sixers with Korkmaz right behind him with three of his own.
For the Clippers, Paul George led the way with 37 points but faltered in the closing minutes having several turnovers and missed shots. Patrick Patterson had a huge game off the bench with 18 points and was a crucial component in bringing the Clippers back into this game.
Philadelphia is now 39-17 and has the weekend off before hosting the Golden State Warriors on Monday. Brooklyn also won, meaning the Sixers still hold just a one-game lead over first place in the Eastern Conference. The Clippers fall to 39-19 and remain third place in the West before returning to action Sunday against the Timberwolves.
Mandatory Credit: AP Photo/Matt Slocum