PHILADELPHIA _ Joel Embiid used everything in his arsenal and Ersan Ilyasova shined off the bench to lead the Sixers to a 110-99 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
Coming off a win in Cleveland on Thursday night, it was a quick turnaround after the Sixers' starters logged heavy minutes against the Cavaliers.
Friday night's matchup had all the makings of a trap game. On the second night of a back-to-back, against a team who had a five-game winning streak snapped Wednesday by Boston, the Sixers knew they were going to have their hands full with Charlotte and that some fire power would have to come from the bench.
The Sixers' fatigue seemed to show in the first half against the Hornets, who shot 63 percent from beyond the arc en route to a 56-48 lead at intermission despite early foul trouble for Dwight Howard.
And the Sixers had their own foul problems.
The second half started with back-to-back dunks from Embiid, one off a lob from Ben Simmons. But just as Sixers' fans were celebrating Howard committing his fourth foul early in the third quarter, they were quieted when Embiid committed his fourth and was sent to the bench.
Embiid hit 3s, midrange shots, step-backs, and drove through defenders doing what he could when he was on the floor, finishing the night with 23 points and 14 rebounds. When Embiid was not on the floor Kemba Walker (31 points, five assists) led the Hornets in opening up a 14-point lead.
With 3:39 left in the third quarter Embiid returned, one minute later Howard picked up his fifth foul, and just like that the Sixers were within single digits of the lead.
Midway through the fourth quarter Ilyasova dished to Dario Saric who hit a 3 to bring the Sixers within one-point. After a timeout, Saric repaid the favor, dishing to Ilyasova who hit a three to give the Sixers their first lead since the early minutes of the first quarter.
Energized, the Sixers continued to dominate through the fourth quarter, and Ilyasova was leading the charge. He scored 11 points in the final 12 minutes to close the night with 18 points.
