Sixers vs. Memphis Grizzlies takeaways: Philly’s resiliency; Tobias Harris’ value; Joel Embiid’s elite defense

The 76ers keep displaying resilience.

Tobias Harris is a key piece to their success, and Joel Embiid is an elite defender.

Those three things stood out during the Sixers’ 110-105 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Sixers battled back from four 17-point, first-half deficits in their five-point win. This marked the fifth time this season they’ve overcome at least a 15-point deficit in a victory. These five such wins tie them with the Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers for the second-most this season behind the Brooklyn Nets’ six.

“First of all, we should not put ourselves in those positions,” Embiid said. “But that’s on me. I could have been better tonight. But I just think it shows you we have the right players that are tough, mentally. We have the right group that knows you just gotta stick together, and at some point, it’s going to change.”

The Grizzlies (35-23) shot 52.5% in the first quarter while the Sixers (39-19) made just 6 of 23 shots.

Embiid finished the game with 27 points and game highs of 19 rebounds and six blocks. However, he made just 1 of 8 shots in the first quarter en route to shooting 7 of 25 for the game.

“We stayed together and got the shots when we needed to,” said Embiid. “And then offensively, James shot down big shots, Tobias had big ones.”

Harden led all scorers with 31 points while making 6 of 9 three-pointers. However, the Sixers might not have won the game without Harris, who scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter.

“We found something today,” Harden said of the comeback. “We got a team that won’t quit. That’s always a good sign.”

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Harris’ fourth quarter showed just how vital he is to the team’s success.

Harris drained a three-pointer to pull the Sixers within one point (99-98) with 3 minutes, 40 seconds remaining. Then his three-pointer with 39 seconds remaining put the Sixers up 106-105 and gave them their first lead since early in the game. Then Harris concluded his scoring by sinking a pair of foul shots with 6.5 seconds left.

The Sixers scored the game’s final seven points, with Harris scoring five.

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He’ll need to continue to be involved in order for his team to make a deep postseason run.

“I think he’s going to get a lot of opportunities like that with my playmaking,” Harden said, “or pick-and-roll with Joel or us getting into the paint.”

The Sixers have been at their best when Harris is involved in the offense and the ball is moving like it was after intermission. Philly will be tough to beat if he keeps hitting shots like that.

Embiid is second in the league in scoring at 33.0 points per game. But he can be just as dominant on the defensive end. His six blocks were the second highest single-game total this season.

Embiid’s highlight was blocking Ja Morant’s dunk attempt with 1:12 remaining and the Grizzlies up, 104-103.

“I didn’t see him,” Morant said. " I was only seeing P.J. Tucker. It was a good weak-side block from him”

That was the second time Embiid blocked an attempted dunk in the quarter. He blocked Xavier Tillman’s attempt at the 5:02 mark.

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“I take pride in that,” Embiid said. “And like I always say, defense is more important to me than offense. Even tonight, I did not make any shots, even the ones that I normally make.

“But defensively, I thought I had to be Bill Russell tonight to be able to kind of balance it out.”

Best performance: This goes to Harden on a night Harris made the game-winning shot. The point guard gets this award for keeping the Sixers in the game while his teammates struggled and knocking down several tough shots during their comeback effort. In addition to scoring 31 points, Harden had seven rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and one steal.

Worst performance: I had to give this to De’Anthony Melton. The Sixers shooting guard failed to score a point while missing both of his shot attempts. He also had more fouls (five) than assists (two) and rebounds (one) combined.

Best defensive performance: This goes to Embiid for recording his personal block party.

Worst statistics: This goes to the Grizzlies’ three-point shooting. They made just 7 of 31 three-pointers for 22.6%. Memphis shot 1 of 15 (6.7%) from three in the second half.

Best statistics: This goes to the Memphis’ points in the paint. They scored 50 on 25-for-47 shooting.

Best of the Best: Harden passed Sixers legend Allen Iverson for 26th on the NBA all-time scoring list at 24,386 points.