CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ The 76ers must be allergic to big leads.
They, once again, led blew a double-digit lead. For the second straight night, Jimmy Butler enabled them to overcome that.
The swingman's 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds left lifted the Sixers to a 122-119 overtime victory over the Charlotte Hornets Saturday night at the Spectrum Center. That play came 14 seconds after he blocked Hornets All-Star point guard Kemba Walker's nine-foot jumper and grabbed the defensive rebound by saving his block from going out of bounds.
Butler had an off shooting night, scoring 15 points on 4-for-11 shooting to go with three rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks. However, nine of his points came in the fourth quarter and overtime session.
The Sixers (11-7) were able to overcome blowing a 17-point second-quarter lead and giving up a career-high 60 points to Walker. The Hornets dropped to 7-8.
Joel Embiid paced the Sixers with 33 points and 11 rebounds. Ben Simmons added 23 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, while JJ Redick had 23 points.
Outcomes like this were the reason why the Sixers got Butler in a blockbuster trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves. On Friday, he scored eight of his 28 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Sixers over the Utah Jazz.
They acquired him and Justin Patton in exchange for Dario Saric, Robert Covington, Jerryd Bayless and a 2022 second-round pick.
With his squad down 105-100 with 1 minute, 42 seconds left in regulation, Walker scored the Hornets' next eight points. His final score of the stretch came on a 26-foot 3-point bank shot to give Charlotte a 108-107 lead with 45 seconds left.
Embiid hit a foul shot to knot the score at 35.4 seconds left. Then after a Walker turnover, the All-Star center made a pair to give the Sixers a 110-108 advantage. But Walker answered with a pair of his own to knot the score at 110 with 16.6 seconds left.
The Sixers had a chance to win in regulation, but Butler misfired on a 20-foot jumper right before the buzzer.
The team went on to play through two more ties before Butler took over.
Early on, this game had all the signs of a Sixers' blowout.
The Sixers made nine of their first 11 shots en route to taking a 20-11 lead. And overpowering the Hornets post players, Embiid scored 18 of his points on 7 of 9 shooting in the first quarter.
His eighth basket _ a 3-pointer _ gave the Sixers a commanding 17-point (32-49) cushion with 9 minutes, 28 seconds left in the third quarter.
That was his lone basket in four shot attempts in the second quarter. The Sixers sizable lead shrunk, 63-56, at intermission. Then the Hornets opened second half on a 12-3 run to take a 68-66 lead on Walker's 3-pointer with 7:16 left in the third quarter.
Wilson Chandler didn't play in the first half due to being on a minutes restriction.
