PORTLAND, Ore. _ The 76ers won without Joel Embiid Saturday night.
Furkan Korkmaz's corner 3-pointer with .4 seconds left gave the Sixers a 129-128 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center.
The victory improved the Sixers to 5-0 for the first time since the 2000-01 season. That's when they opened the season with 10 straight victories en route to advancing to the NBA Finals.
The Blazers dropped to 3-3 after the loss.
Embiid served the first of a two-game suspension for Wednesday's scuffle with Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns. The two-time All-Star center will also miss Monday night's game against the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena.
The Sixers battled back from a 21-point deficit to pull within 125-124 Saturday on Al Horford's dunk with 50.2 seconds remaining.
Tobias Harris later drove the lane, dished the ball to Ben Simmons, who was fouled with 10.1 seconds left. The Blazers unsuccessfully challenged the foul. So Simmons went to the foul line and made the pair to put the Sixers up, 126-125.
But, on the ensuing possession, Damian Lillard found a wide open Anfernee Simons in the corner. He responded by burying a 3-pointer to put the Blazers up, 128-126, with 2.2 seconds left. But Korkmaz answered with a corner 3 before Lillard missed a desperation basket at the buzzer.
Early on, the Sixers weren't able to get the big shot or make the big defensive stop needed to get closer.
The Trail Blazers made 19 of 32 3-pointers for 55.9 percent. Portland hit 10 of those 3s in the first half. The Blazers hit several open shots as the Sixers were late on closeouts.
Lillard had 33 points while making 8 of 11 3-pointers.
Portland swingman Rodney Hood scored 20 of his 25 points in the first half. He left the game with 4 minutes, 29 seconds remaining after being injured on pick by Simmons.
Horford paced the Sixers with 25 points. Harris added 23. Simmons had 18 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. However, 11 of those points came on 5-for-6 shooting in the first quarter. Korkmaz finished with 11 points.
The Sixers improved to 2-0 in games without Embiid this season. He missed the Oct. 26 victory over the Detroit Pistons with a sprained right ankle.
The Sixers had the same starting lineup as that game.
Horford started at center in Embiid's place. Harris moved from small forward to power forward. That opened up a spot for Matisse Thybulle at small forward alongside Horford, Harris, and guards Simmons and Josh Richardson in the starting lineup
On Saturday night, Thybulle had a lot of family and friends in the stands. Thybulle played high school ball in the Seattle area, at Eastside Catholic. His grandparents, aunt and godfather/agent were among those in town for the game.
This game was also a homecoming for Sixers assistant coach Ime Udoka, a Portland native.
