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Nothing could faze the Philadelphia 76ers.
Not the loss of two starters. Not an 18-point deficit late in the third quarter. Not even the fact they were facing the NBA’s hottest team on the road.
Joel Embiid made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 41.4 seconds left and the 76ers rallied to beat Milwaukee 133-130 on Saturday night, snapping the Bucks’ 16-game winning streak.
“You find something that works and you try to stick with it,” said James Harden, who had 38 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. “We found something late, in that fourth quarter, and we just stuck with it. We got some stops and things changed for us.”
Milwaukee had the longest winning streak by any NBA team since the Phoenix Suns had 18 straight victories early last season. The streak ended because the Bucks got outscored 48-31 during a fourth quarter in which the 76ers shot 12 of 21 overall, 7 of 11 from 3-point range and 17 of 19 from the line.
“They went wherever they wanted to go, scoring from the paint, floaters, isos, offensive rebounds, free throws, 3s,” said Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had 34 points and 13 rebounds. “You name it. They were able to get everything. We’ve got to be able to play 48 minutes of good basketball, defend for 48 minutes. This is a good lesson for us.”
Philadelphia completed the comeback even though Tobias Harris didn’t play in the second half due to left calf soreness and PJ Tucker sat out the fourth quarter with back spasms.
