Philadelphia 76ers returned to a winning track on Tuesday night by claiming a massive 137-134 overtime win over Miami Heat.
The 76ers entered Tuesday on a three-game losing streak, struggling to cope with the absence of important players due to COVID-19. They faced the same problem against the Heat, but it didn’t matter at the end as Joel Embiid put Philly on his shoulder and delivered a monster performance to get his team the W.
Embiid was a scary matchup on both ends of the floor for Heat, putting up 45 points and 16 rebounds while also adding five steals and one block. He was especially productive in the third quarter when he scored 20 points and helped the 76ers erase a 13-point deficit.
Embiid also scored the tying basket to force the overtime and then continued to dominate down the stretch.
“There was no chance we were going down and losing four in a row,” said Embiid after the game. “So whatever, I had to do, whatever my teammates had to do, we did it, and we got the win.”
Embiid’s performance impressed basketball fans around the world but also his head coach Doc Rivers: “I thought, just his will, he willed this game for us tonight and so did other guys,” said the Philly head coach.
With this big win, the 76ers are now 8-4 and sit at No. 2 in the Eastern Conference, one game behind the Boston Celtics. The Heat, on the other hand, fell to 4-5 and are No. 8 on the standings.
