Joel Embiid scored 38 points, and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Washington Wizards 141-136 for their fifth straight win.
Embiid’s cutting layup put the 76ers ahead for good with 3:16 left in the fourth quarter.
During clutch time, the 76ers outscored the Wizards 13-5. Embiid scored 11 of the 76ers’ 13 on 3 for 3 shooting and 4 for 4 at the line. In the fourth quarter, Ben Simmons had 5 of his 12 assists, 2 of them on baskets by Seth Curry and Danny Green that tied the game and 2 on baskets by Curry and Embiid that put the 76ers ahead. In that stretch, Davis Bertans had 2 steals, one of them leading to Thomas Bryant’s putback that tied the game at 131, and the Wizards scored 3 points off them. With 3:28 left, Embiid stole the ball from Russell Westbrook, and his cutting layup off it put the 76ers ahead 133-131.
Curry scored 28 points on 11 for 14 shooting, and Green added 15 points with 5 3-pointers.
For the Wizards, Bradley Beal scored 60 points (7 during a 10-0 run in the third quarter) with 7 3-pointers, and Westbrook added 20 points, 8 rebounds, 12 assists and 3 steals.
The 76ers shot 61.7% from the field and 62.1% from 3 to the Wizards’ 50.0% and 43.2%. The Wizards outscored the 76ers 13-3 in 4 minutes with Westbrook, Lopez, Smith, Bertans and Neto on the floor together.