SAN ANTONIO — James Harden practically pushed Joel Embiid off the floor and to the 76ers’ bench after the big man had fallen to the floor attempting to save an offensive rebound and his team up by a comfortable margin in the waning minutes.
Embiid had done more than enough, tallying 33 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists to lead the Sixers to a 137-125 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night at the AT&T Center.
It was the Sixers’ ninth win in their last 10 games to push their record to 34-17 and the Spurs’ eighth loss in a row. Yet San Antonio hung around for much of the contest — and forced Doc Rivers to reinsert his starters after he had gone deep into his bench — because of their 58.4% field-goal shooting, even on a night when the Sixers connected on 52.9% of their shots, including 13 of 27 from 3-point range.
