Joel Embiid’s 35 points, clutch free throws push Sixers to victory over Oklahoma City Thunder

OKLAHOMA CITY — Chet Holmgren wouldn’t allow the Thunder to fade quietly. The sensational rookie big man followed a dunk with a pull-up three-pointer, then quickly threw down another slam with 2.5 seconds to play.

But Joel Embiid calmly answered at the free-throw stripe. Again, and again, and again. The reigning NBA MVP went 6-of-6 in the game’s final 10 seconds, capping a 35-point performance to clinch the 76ers’ 127-123 victory Saturday at the Paycom Center.

“It’s scary, but I like it,” Embiid said of going to the line in crunch time. “That’s why I went to the ball every single time — because I believe in myself.”

The result halted the Thunder’s six-game winning streak, and put a positive stamp on the Sixers’ challenging two-week stretch in which they lost four out of their previous six games. And it was fitting that foul shots sealed the Sixers’ win. They finished the game 37-of-45 from the stripe, while the Thunder made 21 of their 26 attempts.

Embiid also amassed 11 rebounds and nine assists, narrowly missing a triple-double for the second time in a week in his return from a one-game absence because of hip soreness. His effort anchored a balanced attack by the Sixers, who got 28 points and eight rebounds from Tyrese Maxey; 16 points, five rebounds, and six assists from Tobias Harris; 14 points, seven rebounds, and three assists from Nicolas Batum; and 14 points, seven rebounds, and five assists from De’Anthony Melton.

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Before Holmgren’s flurry in the final 11.1 seconds, it looked like the Sixers (11-5) had made enough clutch plays to win. Thunder All-Star point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drew three consecutive trips to the free-throw line with less than three minutes remaining, which each time cut a three-possession deficit to two, but the Sixers kept answering.

First, Embiid barreled toward the basket, drew a foul, and sank two free throws to put the Sixers up, 114-108, with 1:47 to play. Then, Melton buried a corner three-pointer to push that advantage to 117-110. And then, Nick Nurse’s second successful coach’s challenge led to two Maxey free throws for a 119-110 advantage at the 49-second mark.

But the Thunder followed with an 8-2 run — which included Embiid fouling Davis Bertans on a three-point try, Melton and Batum missing a free throw, and Harris committing an offensive foul — that made Maxey feel like “the end of this game was taking at least 35 minutes.”

“We were really good for about 47½ minutes,” Maxey said. “And those last 40 [or] 30 seconds kind of slipped away from us.”

Added Nurse: “There’s just no time to relax and not execute. … We’ve got to get better. We’ve got to clean it up. If you want to be a really good team, you don’t do that kind of stuff.”

Holmgren, meanwhile, demonstrated why he is an early frontrunner for the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award. He finished with 33 points on 13-of-21 shooting, mixing a 5-of-11 mark from three-point range with authoritative finishes inside.

“He can do everything on the basketball floor,” said Embiid, adding that he and Holmgren share personal trainer Drew Hanlen. “He’s up next. Shooting the ball, freaking ballhandling. … The next generation of bigs, you’ve got to be able to do everything on the basketball floor.”

Maxey again struggled from the floor early, but rebounded with a crucial stint to start the fourth quarter.

He hit a pull-up jumper to give the Sixers a 99-90 lead, before another bucket made it 105-96 with 7:43 remaining. Then, his scooping reverse layup put the Sixers up, 110-98, about midway through the period.

“I’ve really been getting some good looks, honestly, the past couple games,” Maxey said. “They just haven’t been falling. It’ll be all right. I’ll start making those. ... Fourth quarter, I know I’ve got to be even more aggressive, no matter what.

“[If the defenders] trap, double … find a way to get to the paint, create for others, and create for myself.”

Maxey missed five of his first seven shots, and four of his five initial attempts from long range. His first bucket came late in the first quarter, when he converted a tough finish inside while falling to the ground. He then sank a three-pointer early in the second frame, and hit another deep shot from the corner to give the Sixers a 53-48 lead at the 3:55 mark.

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Later, Maxey’s elbow jumper tied it, 75-75, midway through the third quarter, before a transition three-pointer on the next possession gave the Sixers a three-point lead.

Maxey entered Saturday shooting 39% over his six games since dropping 50 points against the Indiana Pacers, including a season-low 16 points on 7-of-19 from the floor and 0-of-5 from three-point range in Wednesday’s loss at the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Maxey also avoided disaster when initially whistled for his fourth foul on a charge late in the second quarter, before coach’s challenge by Nurse got the call reversed to a blocking foul on former Sixer Isaiah Joe.

The Sixers’ depth at wing took a late hit, when Danuel House Jr. was ruled out about 90 minutes before tipoff with a thigh bruise and Jaden Springer was an in-game scratch because of illness.

That made Marcus Morris Sr. (zero points, three rebounds in 14 minutes) the first forward substitution for Harris. Robert Covington (nine points on 3-of-5 shooting) followed, replacing Batum. Covington then got the call before Morris in the third quarter.

As a result, the Sixers began the second and fourth quarters with Maxey, Morris, Covington, Patrick Beverley, and Paul Reed. It was a group that, to start the final period, Nurse said “really played good” because of their ability to read the floor, make open shots and defend.

“They were doing a lot of things to try to get the ball out of Tyrese’s hands,” Nurse said. “Give him a lot of credit, because he still kept scoring buckets. And then when [his teammates] had to make reads, they made them all and then they made the shots out of them.”

Somebody who was unsurprised by Gilgeous-Alexander’s 31-point night? Nurse, who coached the Thunder All-Star with the Canadian national team. Nineteen of Gilgeous-Alexander’s points came on an efficient 7-of-10 from the floor in the first half, before he went just 3-of-11 after the break and collected six of his 12 points at the free-throw line.

“We got a little bit better in front of him here and there,” said Nurse, adding that his team also better recognized the sets the Thunder were running. “I was hoping he wasn’t going to make every shot he took tonight, like he did in the first half. He had a few bounce out, which was key.”

Joe, meanwhile, finished with 13 points and three rebounds against his old team. But after entering Saturday shooting a blistering 51.8% from beyond the arc, he went just 3-of-12 from deep against the Sixers.

And Beverley (six points, four rebounds, four assists) remains disliked in Oklahoma City. The home crowd clearly has not forgotten the 2013 playoffs, when Beverley (then a Houston Rocket) ended former Thunder star Russell Westbrook’s season by colliding with Westbrook’s knee while going for a steal, which tore his meniscus.