Three reasons the Sixers beat the Jazz in overtime

The 76ers ended the first half of the season with an impressive 131-123 overtime win over the Utah Jazz at the Wells Fargo Center in a game featuring the top teams in both conferences.

Here are three reasons for the win.

Joel Embiid was dominant with 40 points and 19 rebounds, and he saved his best for late in regulation. With the Sixers down by 118-115, Embiid hit the shot that sent the game into overtime, this three-pointer over Bojan Bogdanovic.

On the play, it appeared Embiid was attempting to draw a foul on Bogdanovic, who showed restraint by not going for the pump fake. Embiid then just shot the ball over the 6-foot-8 forward.

What was impressive about the play was that Embiid originally caught the ball in the post. Realizing the Sixers needed three points, he dribbled out to the three-point area and sank the shot.

» READ MORE: Sixers cap first half of the season with 131-123 OT victory over Utah

Through regulation, Tobias Harris was showing plenty of rust. He had missed the previous two game with a bruised right knee. In the first four quarters, he scored 11 points, shooting 5 of 13 from the field.

In the overtime he was 4 of 5 and hit all three of his foul shots for 11 points. He was taking advantage of defensive mismatches during the extra period.

On the first two field goals, he was defended by Bogdanovic. Harris scored a hook shot on the first and then beat Bogdanovic for a driving layup.

His final two overtime field goals were against Royce O’Neale, who is a good defender, but the 6-8 Harris had a four-inch height advantage and used it perfectly.

On the first field goal, he took O’Neal to the basket, made a nice drop step, and shot a ball that Rudy Gobert goaltended. The second was a turnaround 13-footer over O’Neale.

In the overtime Harris was aggressively taking the ball to the basket, and with Utah so focused on stopping Embiid, Harris was able to come through.

» READ MORE: Overtime thriller against Jazz is a microcosm of these first-half Sixers | David Murphy

Utah guard Donovan Mitchell just earned his second straight All-Star berth, but when it came to the clutch moments Wednesday he wasn’t able to help the Jazz.

In the overtime, Mitchell missed all of his five shots, including three from beyond the arc. Ben Simmons was on Mitchell on four of the five overtime field-goal attempts. Mitchell first missed a driving layup with Harris on him. Then Simmons provided good defense on a missed three, a driving layup, and two more missed threes.

Simmons’ determination showed on the first missed three in overtime, he fought off a Gobert pick to get a hand in Mitchell’s face while shooting. Simmons was able to contest all four of Mitchell’s overtime field-goal attempts that he defended.

To top it off, Mitchell lost his cool and was ejected after being assessed two technical fouls in the overtime.