Joel Embiid racked up 32 points and 13 rebounds to lead the host Philadelphia 76ers to a 125-113 win over the Orlando Magic on Friday night.
Embiid also had seven assists for Philadelphia (46-35), which ran its winning streak to seven games. Tyrese Maxey added 28 points and Kelly Oubre Jr. supplied 21 to go along with nine boards.
With the victory, the 76ers jumped into the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference while simultaneously dropping Orlando (46-35) to the No. 7 spot. The Magic are now in line to participate in the play-in with just one game left in the regular season.
Franz Wagner paced Orlando with 24 points. Paolo Banchero finished with 22 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists and Jalen Suggs netted 20 points as the Magic got outshot 47.7 percent to 45.3 percent from the field.
The Sixers pulled away early in the third quarter, scoring 11 of the first 14 points of the period to build a 79-64 cushion.
Orlando trailed by at least 10 for the rest of the quarter, seeing its deficit reach 17 on Cameron Payne’s trey with 1:10 to go. Philadelphia ended up settling for a 96-83 lead heading into the final frame.
Banchero gave the Magic some life in the fourth, though, converting a three-point play and a layup as part of a 10-2 spurt that got Orlando within 113-107 with 4:35 left.
But Maxey virtually put the game away with a jumper and a layup, pushing the 76ers’ lead to 10. The Magic trailed by at least eight the rest of the way.
Philadelphia went 7-for-13 from beyond the arc through the first 12 minutes of action to take a 40-27 lead into the second quarter.
Nicolas Batum provided the 76ers with a 61-50 advantage when he knocked down a triple with 3:35 remaining in the first half. Orlando responded with an 11-2 run, pulling within 63-61 on Gary Harris’ 3-pointer with 59.9 seconds left.
However, Philadelphia scored the final five points of the half — getting four from Kyle Lowry — to go into the break up 68-61.
–Field Level Media