NEW YORK _ The 76ers are one win away from advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
They posted a 112-108 come-from-behind victory Saturday at the Barclays Center in Game 4 of the opening-round series. The Sixers have a 3-1 series advantage. Game 5 will be 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Wells Fargo Center.
Joel Embiid finished with 31 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists, and six blocks after missing Game 3 with tendinitis in his left knee. Tobias Harris added 24 points, while Ben Simmons added 15 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists.
Simmons' biggest rebound came late in the game on the offensive end.
After pulling down the rebound, he passed the ball to JJ Redick behind the 3-point line. The Sixers shooting guard nearly slipped, but he buried a 3-pointer to put Philly up 107-106 with 50.0 seconds left.
After both teams turned the ball over on ensuing possessions, Joe Harris' basket gave Brooklyn a 108-107 lead with 25 seconds remaining.
But Mike Scott buried a wide-open 3-pointer from the corner on an assist from Embiid to give the Sixers a two-point lead with 18.6 seconds left.
Jarrett Allen turned over the ball while being triple-teamed by Simmons, Embiid, and Tobias Harris on the ensuing possession. Simmons, who stole the ball, quickly passed to Harris, who was fouled with 4.8 seconds left.
He made both foul shots to give the Sixers a four-point cushion.
This game didn't lack excitement, as Jimmy Butler and Nets forward Jared Dudley were ejected after an on-court melee with 7 minutes, 42 seconds left in the third quarter. That came 1:59 after Embiid shoved Dudley out of his way after the Net celebrated in front of the All-Star after he was called for a shot-clock violation.
The on-court melee began when Allen was knocked to the court by Embiid on a layup attempt, and Embiid forcefully swiped at the ball.
Dudley took exception and rammed into Embiid. Butler then shoved the forward in the back underneath the basket. As players rushed in, Simmons was knocked into Dudley, sending both players into front-row seats on the baseline.
Dudley got up and had choice words for Embiid, while being separated. The Sixer had his arms raised above his head as if asking 'What did I do?" the entire time.
Embiid received a flagrant foul 1 for his actions. Dudley and Butler were ejected.
After the game, Embiid called Dudley "a nobody."
This was Embiid's second flagrant foul for an action against Allen. He received one in Game 2 for elbowing him in the mouth. The Nets didn't like that Embiid and Simmons laughed while Embiid addressed the Game 1 incident during the postgame news conference Thursday. Embiid later apologized for laughing and said he didn't mean any disrespect by it. He said the laughter wasn't directed toward Allen.
But one had to sense tempers would flare up in this game.
After making a second-quarter 3-pointer, Dudley spread his arms and stared down Simmons. This was a reaction to Simmons' spreading his arms and staring down Dudley after the Net shot an air ball on a 3-point attempt in Game 2.
The Nets tweaked their starting lineup, inserting normal reserves Caris LeVert and Dudley.
LeVert got the start at shooting guard and Dudley got the nod at power forward. Normal shooting guard Joe Harris moved over to small forward.
That proved to be a good move by Nets coach Kenny Atkinson.
LeVert had been Brooklyn's most productive player in the first three games. However, he didn't get a lot of opportunities while averaging just 20.7 minutes off the bench in those games. Plus, Harris had struggled the last two games, shooting a combined 0 for 6 on 3-pointers. The new lineup was made to give him more pace and added another dynamic scorer.
LeVert did his part, finishing with 25 points. Sixteen of his points came in the first half.
But a lot of the attention on the Sixers' side involved Embiid's return.
The two-time All-Star center missed Game 3 because of tendinitis in his left knee. But the team announced he would play just minutes before the matchup.
Embiid had been officially listed as doubtful 90 minutes before the game on the NBA injury report. Coach Brett Brown said at the time that Embiid would be a game-time decision.
"My whole thing with Joel is and always will be _ it's dictated by the doctors more than the coach _ is what harm are we putting him in? What unnecessary harm are we putting him in?" Brown said. "If the answer is none, then you play him.
"Then it gets down to whatever level it is, then you question it."
Brown was asked if the apprehension was a result of Embiid's pain tolerance or the risk of further injury to the knee. He declined to answer.
"You guy know what I know," Brown said. " ... I'm a recipient of the news and I coach accordingly."
The team said it has to do with Embiid's pain tolerance and pointed out what he told the media on Thursday. Embiid said his knee was getting better, slowly but surely.
"But we have to be smart how we handle it every single day," Embiid said. "I am sure these guys wouldn't let me get on the court if there was a chance of anything bad happening. So I have to trust the process."
Embiid has been hampered by a sore knee all season and had missed 14 of the team's final 24 regular-season games.
