By The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid scored a franchise-record 70 points, the most in the NBA this season, to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 133-123 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night.
Embiid also set a career high with 18 rebounds. He was 24 of 41 from the field, including 1 of 2 from 3-point range, and made 21 of 23 free throws. He broke Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain’s 76ers record of 68 points, set on Dec. 16, 1967, with a layup with 1:41 to play.
Chamberlain was playing for the Philadelphia Warriors when he set the NBA record with 100 points.
A six-time All-Star and the league’s reigning MVP, Embiid has scored at least 30 points in 21 consecutive games. The 76ers have won six in a row.
Rookie Victor Wembanyama had 33 points and seven rebounds in 29 minutes in the first matchup between the 7-footers. The rebuilding Spurs fell to 5-19 on the road.
HORNETS 128, TIMBERWOLVES 125
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns scored a franchise-record 62 points, including 44 in the first half, but Charlotte erased an 18-point deficit and stunned Minnesota.
Towns managed just four points on 2-for-10 shooting in the fourth quarter, when the Timberwolves were outscored 36-18. He thought he was fouled on a drive to the basket in the closing seconds and Minnesota trailing by one, then was short on a 3-point attempt on the final possession.
Miles Bridges scored 28 points and Brandon Miller had 27 for the Hornets. Leaky Black ripped the ball away from Towns on his way to the basket to preserve the Hornets’ 10th victory of the season.
Charlotte went ahead for good at 122-121 on P.J. Washington’s floater with 3:21 remaining. LaMelo Ball added 18 points for the Hornets, who had lost seven of their past eight games and had the Eastern Conference’s third-worst mark entering Monday.
SUNS 115, BULLS 113
PHOENIX (AP) — Kevin Durant hit a contested 17-foot jumper with 1.6 seconds left to help Phoenix erase a 23-point deficit and stun Chicago.
The Suns have won six straight.
Durant finished with 43 points, eight assists and six rebounds, one night after scoring 40 in a win over the Indiana Pacers. Bradley Beal scored 18 and Devin Booker added 16.
Coby White led the Bulls with 26 points. DeMar DeRozan added 21 and Nikola Vucevic added 19 points and 17 rebounds.
CAVALIERS 126, MAGIC 99
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Sam Merrill scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half, and Cleveland beat Orlando for its eighth straight victory.
Donovan Mitchell added 25 points and 13 assists for the Cavaliers, who shot 20 for 38 (53%) from 3-point range. Cleveland never trailed and led by 36 points midway through the fourth quarter.
The Cavs’ win streak is one short of the NBA’s longest this season (set by the Magic and the Los Angeles Clippers), and all of it has been accomplished without Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, the team’s second- and third-leading scorers.
Jarrett Allen, who didn’t score until the Cavs had a 21-point lead, set a franchise record with his 12th straight double-double, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
CELTICS 119, MAVERICKS 110
DALLAS (AP) — Jayson Tatum had 38 points and 11 rebounds, Jaylen Brown scored 35 and Boston beat Dallas.
The NBA-leading Celtics were never in much trouble because their All-Star pair was more efficient on the second night of a back-to-back than the Dallas duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving after four days off.
Tatum and Brown combined to go 24 of 43 from the field while Doncic and Irving were 21 of 50, with Doncic not hitting his first 3-pointer until the fourth quarter and finishing 2 of 8 from beyond the arc.
Doncic had a triple-double with 33 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists. Irving scored 23 coming off an unexpected break when a game at Golden State was postponed following the death of Warriors assistant Dejan Milojević from a heart attack.
BUCKS 122, PISTONS 113
DETROIT (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had a triple-double and Khris Middleton added 26 points as Milwaukee pulled away late and beat Detroit.
Antetokounmpo finished with 31 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists as the Bucks won for the fifth time in six games. Brook Lopez finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Marcus Sasser led the Pistons with 23 points, and fellow reserve Isaiah Stewart had 19 points and eight rebounds. Jaden Ivey led the starters with 17 points as Detroit lost to Milwaukee for the second time in three nights.
GRIZZLIES 108, RAPTORS 100
TORONTO (AP) — Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 16 of his 27 points in the first quarter, Luke Kennard added a season-high 19 points, and Memphis won its fourth straight north of the border, beating slumping Toronto.
Vince Williams Jr. had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Santi Aldama scored 10 points before leaving because of a sore right knee as the short-handed Grizzlies won for the second time in their past six games.
Jackson finished with a career-high six steals, all in the first quarter, as the veteran big man wasted no time breaking his previous mark of five.
RJ Barrett scored 29 points for Toronto, and Scottie Barnes had 22 points and 12 rebounds. Immanuel Quickley had 10 assists but shot 3 for 13 and scored eight points as the Raptors lost for the eighth time in 10 games.
KINGS 122, HAWKS 107
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Harrison Barnes scored 32 points and Sacramento beat short-handed Atlanta to snap a four-game losing streak.
The Hawks were without All-Star guard Trae Young, who suffered a concussion in Saturday’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Domantas Sabonis had 14 points and 21 rebounds for his 25th straight double-double, tying Oscar Robertson for the second-longest streak in franchise history. Robertson owns the record at 29 in a row.
Dejounte Murray had 35 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta.
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