Ben Simmons’ tip-in at the buzzer lifts the Sixers past the Spurs and into first place in the Eastern Conference

SAN ANTONIO — The 76ers are back in first place.

It happened because Ben Simmons tipped in Joel Embiid’s missed shot at the buzzer to defeat the San Antonio Spurs, 113-111, in overtime Sunday night, hours after the Brooklyn Nets were beaten by Milwaukee.

“I knew Joe was going to get a good look,” Simmons said. “And, you know, we trust him with those shots. So I was just there to clean it up.”

Earlier in the day, the Bucks handed the Nets (43-22) their second consecutive loss. That, combined with their victory at the AT&T Center, gives a Sixers (43-21) a half-game lead over the Nets atop the Eastern Conference.

A victory Monday over the Chicago Bulls at the United Center would give Philly a one-game lead with seven contests remaining. The Nets face the third-place Bucks (40-24) on Tuesday in the final game of a two-game series at Fiserv Forum.

“I mean, it’s where we want to be,” Simmons said of being in first place. “We still have to worry about ourselves and what we can do, and everything else will handle itself. That’s just getting wins. The more we win, the better chance we give ourselves.”

But the Sixers earned the hard-fought victory.

With the scored tied at 111, Sixers coach Doc Rivers called a timeout with 19.1 seconds left. Tobias Harris got the ball to Embiid, who took time off the clock before firing up a 5-footer. As the ball bounced off the rim, Simmons tipped it before the buzzer sounded.

His game-winner came after he drew two big charges on Keldon Johnson in the overtime. The first one came with the Sixers ahead, 109-107, with 4 minutes, 27 seconds remaining. The second one came with Philly up, 111-109, with 1:08 to play.

“I thought those two chargers were the biggest plays of the game,” Rivers said. “Some good plays getting there. One of the things that we have been talking about that we hadn’t improved in was our low-man help. He did it. Phenomenal.”

The All-Star point guard’s winning tip was just his second basket of the game. He finished with five points on 2-for-6 shooting to go with six rebounds, five assists, two steals, and just one turnover.

Embiid and Seth Curry had hot hands for the Sixers.

Embiid had game highs of 34 points and 12 rebounds. Curry had 22 points on 8-for-10 shooting, including making all six of his three-point shots.

Reading’s Lonnie Walker IV paced San Antonio with 23 points.

The Spurs (31-32) never led in the game. The score was tied once in the first half when it was 2-2. The Sixers went on to build a commanding 17-point lead before intermission. But this game was competitive, as San Antonio kept pushing the pace and tying the score five times in the second half while mounting their comeback.

But the matchup lacked the pregame hype of the Bucks-Nets game.

» READ MORE: Sixers’ Ben Simmons playing at high level since return. But he’ll be judged by what he does in postseason.

That’s because Philly faced an undermanned opponent for the fourth consecutive game.

The Spurs were without their three leading scorers in DeMar DeRozan, Dejounte Murray (knee), and Derrick White, and five players total.

DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl were both held out of the game for rest. White (sprained right ankle) missed his third straight game, while Trey Lyles (sprained right ankle) hasn’t played since March 24.

The Sixers won this game by two points after winning their previous three games by a combined margin of 97 points.

Philly is on pace to play its fifth consecutive game against an undermanned team in the Bulls (26-38). Troy Brown Jr. (sprained left ankle) will miss Monday’s game. All-Star Zach LaVine (NBA’s Covid-19 health and safety protocols) is doubtful, while All-Star Nik Vucevic (right adductor tightness) is questionable.

One has to wonder if Rivers opts to rest a couple of key players in Chicago. But the coach was asked if there’s an element of wanting the challenge of playing against an opposing team’s best players every night knowing that’s what’s going to happen in the postseason.

“Every night when we play, it seems like when we play, either we’re missing guys or the other team [is],” Rivers said. “It’s been one of those years.

“And, you know, once [the postseason] starts, everybody will play. So I think your job is just to win games and get to it. So when the playoffs start, you will be seeing full rosters. I’m pretty confident of that. So let’s keep winning as much as we can.”

» READ MORE: Doc Rivers focused on winning games, giving players proper rest down the stretch

Embiid was a beast from the start. He made his first five baskets to give the Sixers a 15-6 lead. The MVP candidate finished with 13 points in the first quarter on 6-for-8 shooting as Philly led, 37-27. He added six points on 2-for-3 shooting in the second quarter en route to the Sixers owning a 61-52 halftime lead.

The Spurs, however, pulled to within two points (94-92) on Tre Jones’ 10-foot jumper with 4:42 left in regulation.

Rudy Gay’s three-pointer with 2:14 left in regulation knotted the score at 102. Curry responded to hit his sixth three-pointer before the Spurs added another three to make it a 105-102 game. With the game tied at 107, Matisse Thybulle, subbed in defensively, blocked Patty Mills’ three-pointer with 24.7 seconds left. After a Sixers timeout, Embiid missed a 15-foot fadeway jumper at the regulation buzzer.

Embiid appeared to make a basket with 2:38 left in overtime that would have given the Sixers a 111-109 lead. However, the play was reviewed during a break and was overturned. The officials ruled that Embiid’s basket came after the shot clock expired.

But he got those points back while hitting a pair of foul shots with 1:42 left to make it officially 111-109. Gay then knotted the score at 111 on a layup with 19.1 seconds left, setting up Simmons’ heroics.

“I wanted to get on the plane and get to Chicago,” Simmons said of his overtime heroics. “But I was just doing what I could. Whatever I could at the time with my team offensively and defensively, trying to make the plays.”