Embiid, Harden help 76ers blow by Knicks to win 8th straight

Joel Embiid scored 35 points, James Harden had 29 points and 13 assists and the Philadelphia 76ers blew by the New York Knicks in the final quarter, extending their winning streak to eight games with a 119-112 victory Sunday.

Georges Niang hit four 3-pointers in Philadelphia’s fourth-quarter surge and finished with 16 points, while De’Anthony Melton added 15 as the 76ers got off to a good start on a four-game road trip after sweeping a seven-game homestand.

The Sixers never led through three quarters, then outscored the Knicks 24-9 to open the fourth, turning a one-point deficit into a 116-102 lead.

Julius Randle scored 35 points and Jalen Brunson had 23 points and 11 assists for the Knicks, who have lost three straight following an eight-game winning streak.

Embiid scored 15 points in the third quarter and Harden took over the game when Embiid went to the bench, with a four-point play and another 3-pointer that trimmed it to 96-95. He made another 3 in the opening minute of the fourth to tie it at 98, then found Niang for a 3 that gave the 76ers their first lead with 10:37 to play.

Niang hit consecutive 3s midway through the period before Embiid had two baskets and Harden made one and set up the other in a 8-0 flurry that put it away at 116-102.

Embiid, the NBA’s scoring leader, started slowly and the Knicks led 37-25 after one. They were still up eight when Embiid scored with 6.2 seconds remaining, and when Brunson lost the ball as New York tried to get a final shot, Shake Milton scooped it up and banked in a 50-footer at the buzzer that made it 63-60.

Tip-ins

76ers: Coach Doc Rivers said PJ Tucker had some kind of pain or injury that was affecting his hand, but he wasn’t worried about it yet. … Rivers said the 76ers brought two busloads of families to the game.

Knicks: The Knicks fell to 23-32 in their league-high 55 Christmas appearance. … The Knicks played their final home game of 2022. They take a three-game road trip to Texas next week that begins with Brunson’s return to Dallas on Tuesday.

60-point performers

Bernard King, who set the Christmas record with 60 points in 1984, was at the game. That stood as the Knicks’ single-game scoring record until a 62-point performance on Jan. 24, 2014, by Carmelo Anthony, the former All-Star who was seated next to him and got a huge ovation when shown on the overhead videoboard in the first quarter.

Up next

76ers: At Washington on Tuesday.

Knicks: At Dallas on Tuesday.