Sixers overcome Embiid’s injury, win 8th straight

By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor  

The Philadelphia 76ers (44-30) dealt with a Joel Embiid injury scare against the New York Knicks (27-49), but were able to pull out their eighth straight win anyway, 118-101. The victory gives the Sixers their first season sweep over the Knicks in 10 years. They are 14 games over .500 for the first time since the 2002-03 season and it's also their first eight-game win streak since that season. The Sixers are 19-1 at the Wells Fargo Center in 2018.

In terms of playoff standings, Cleveland beat Charlotte tonight so Philadelphia remains a half game behind the Cavs for the third seed in the East.

The Sixers out-rebounded the Knicks by 12, they had 14 more assists (34-20) and turned the ball over just 12 times while scoring 25 points off of 17 Knicks turnovers. Despite being without Joel Embiid for most of this one, Philadelphia won the battle in the paint, 60-38.

At the beginning of the second quarter, Joel Embiid and Markelle Fultz banged heads in a scramble for the ball and Joel was down on the floor for a bit before getting up under his own power to go to the locker room. He was diagnosed with a facial contusion and was ruled out for the rest of the game. He did not end up having a concussion.

Joel Embiid is headed into the locker room after a collision on the court

Here is the play where it happened. pic.twitter.com/LoP8wWl4C6

— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) March 28, 2018

Dario Saric was his usual self, active on the glass all night while also continuing to display the ability to hold a big part of the offensive load. The Homie finished with 26-point, 14-rebound double-double, adding five assists and two steals to the stat line as well. J.J. Redick tallied 21 points, six rebounds and five assists while Robert Covington had 17 points, four rebounds and three steals.

As for Ben Simmons and his triple-doubles, he fell two rebounds shy of his 11th tonight, posting 13 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. Markelle Fultz finished with three points (1-5 fg), seven assists and five rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench. Filling in for Joel Embiid, Richaun Holmes did an admirable job, scoring 15 points to go along with seven rebounds, three coming off the offensive glass. Marco Belinelli had another strong night off the bench, finishing with 14 points on 4-for-7 shooting.

The Sixers had one misstep in the first, allowing a 7-0 run from the Knicks after a Covington three but following a timeout, the Sixers regained control and settled in the rest of the quarter. Led by seven points from Dario and J.J., the Sixers took a 38-27 advantage into the second quarter. Ben Simmons dished out six assists in the first in just eight minutes. 

Philadelphia started the second quarter on a 7-0 run, leading 44-28 with 10:23 to go in the half shortly after Embiid's injury. The Sixers led by as many as 16, but a 10-2 spurt from the Knicks cut the Sixers lead to nine with 6:27 to go in the second. The Knicks continue to slice away at the Sixers lead, making it a two point game, 53-51, with just over four minutes to go in the half.  New York tied things up at 56 with 3:10 left, but the Sixers were able to head into the locker rooms up by four, 67-63.

J.J. Redick, despite going 2-for-9, led Sixers scorers with 14 while Dario Saric and Robert Covington contributed with 11 and 10, respectively. During Markelle Fultz's seven minute run at the end of the first and beginning of the second, he scored two points to go along with four assists, two rebounds and a block.

In the third, the Sixers started off slow and the Knicks hung around, trailing by just two, 74-72 with just under nine minutes left in the quarter. Philadelphia started to pick things up in what was a sloppy quarter to extend their lead to nine, 81-72, thanks to a few Knicks misses leading to a 7-0 Sixers run. Philly kept rolling, ending the quarter with a 13-point lead, 93-80.

The Sixers continued their trend of strong third quarters, outscoring New York by nine and holding the Knicks to just 17 points. New York began the fourth on a 7-2 run, cutting the Philadelphia lead to 95-87 with just over nine minutes to play, but that is as close as they'd get. The Sixers closed out the win comfortably, 118-101.

Michael Beasley and Emmanuel Mudiay each had 22 for the Knicks while big man Enes Kanter finished with 17 points and 14 boards. 

Up Next:

The Sixers kick-off a two-game road trip on Friday night with a stop in Atlanta for a matchup against the Hawks at 7:30 p.m.