Sixers prevail against the Hornets after fourth quarter comeback down the stretch

The struggling Charlotte Hornets slightly eased the 76ers’ pain — at least for a game.

Having lost five of their last six games, the Sixers desperately needed a pick-me-up. While the outcome was more competitive than expected, they prevailed, 109–98, Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Kelly Oubre Jr.’s three-point play gave them a seven-point cushion with 1 minute, 55 seconds remaining. Then Nico Batum’s three-pointer 33 seconds later put the Sixers up, 103-93. All that was part of the Sixers’ game-ending 21-11 run.

“You know, it usually comes down to some shot making and stop making, right?” said coach Nick Nurse. “We were able to do both kind of consecutively there in the last three minutes of the game. We had a couple of good shots, had an and-one, battled on the glass a little bit, got to the free-throw line. ... And we were just good enough at the defensive end as well.”

The victory improved the Sixers to 37-30 and moved them up to seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings. It was just their eighth victory in 25 games.

» READ MORE: What’s the current state of these Philadelphia 76ers? Tenuous.

Meanwhile, the Hornets, who have the league’s fourth-worst record of 17-51, lost for the ninth time in 11 games.

Tyrese Maxey finished with a game-high 30 points along with three rebounds and four assists on a night he received a bloody nose — the result of an elbow in the face from Hornets rookie Brandon Miller with 2:51 left in the first half. Miller was ejected after receiving a flagrant foul 2 for his action, taken in an effort to create space while dribbling up the court.

After being treated by Sixers head athletic trainer Kevin Johnson, Maxey remained in the game.

Oubre (22 points) and reserves Buddy Hield (14 points), Paul Reed (11 points, eight rebounds), and Cam Payne (10 points) were the Sixers’ other double-figure scorers.

Tre Mann led the Hornets with 21 points. Nick Richards had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Miller had six points before being ejected.

Tobias Harris missed Saturday’s game after spraining his right ankle in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s road loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

With Joel Embiid (left knee surgery) and forward Robert Covington (left knee bone bruise) already sidelined, the Sixers were thin at the post positions. To combat that, Nurse said before the game that he would probably go with a small lineup. The Sixers started Oubre, Batum, Mo Bamba, Kyle Lowry, and Maxey. Batum started in place of Harris, while K.J. Martin was the backup power forward.

Oubre has scored at least 19 points in seven of his last eight games. Eleven of his points came in the first quarter. The swingman averaged 20.3 points in the previous seven games.

“He’s getting some opportunities,” Nurse said of Oubre averaging 32.4 minutes during that stretch. “He’s playing a lot of minutes. You probably saw that we shifted him up the floor some. He seems to get more opportunities when he’s up higher on the floor, and heading in the direction instead of coming out of the corners.”

The Sixers are learning the best way to utilize the Oubre. But they realize it’s necessary to get him minutes while the team is undermanned.

» READ MORE: Sixers-Hornets takeaways: Tyrese Maxey’s toughness; Buddy’s Hield’s solid second hal

Folks hoping to see Kai Jones play for the Sixers may be disappointed. The 6-foot-11 center signed a 10-day contract with them on Friday. That night, he had 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists, five steals, and a block for the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats in Friday’s 132-126 victory over the Birmingham Squadron in Wilmington.

“I think that we just wanted to get him 10 days down there, first and foremost,” Nurse said. “And then after those 10 days, we’ll re-evaluate and take it from there.”

So Jones’ 10-day deal is basically an audition.

“I went out there last night and watched him. He did some good things,” Nurse said. “He’s got some size, he’s got some athleticism. I don’t know how many dunks he had last night — probably five or six — and a couple of them were pretty important tip-back dunks. He seemed to play his role really well. He doesn’t seem to try to do too much. He rebounds, he runs, he really screens. He moves it to the next action over and over again. So for his first game, that wasn’t too bad.”

The Sixers will entertain the Miami Heat on Monday. It will mark the teams’ third meeting of the season. The Heat defeated the Sixers, 119-113, in Miami on Christmas Day. They also prevailed, 109-104, at the Wells Fargo Center on Valentine’s Day.