PHILADELPHIA _ The 76ers' unblemished streak at home remains intact.
Thanks to three steals in the final 13.9 seconds by Ben Simmons, they defeated the Indiana Pacers, 119-116, Saturday night. The Sixers (14-6) are 9-0 at the Wells Fargo Center and snapped the five-game winning streak of the Pacers (12-7).
Joel Embiid finished with game highs of 32 points and 11 rebounds a day after Sixers coach Brett Brown said he didn't know the All-Star center's status.
Simmons added 15 points, 13 assists and four steals. The Sixers other starters on this night _ Tobias Harris (22 points, 14 in the fourth quarter), Al Horford (15 points) and Furkan Korkmaz (12 points) _ also scored in double digits.
T.J Warren paced the Pacers with 29 points, while Malcolm Brogdon added 28.
But this game was a thriller that wasn't decided until Simmons stole the ball on the final possession.
Embiid hit a pair of foul shots to give the Sixers 113-111 lead with 1 minute, 54 seconds left. But Warren was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer with 41.3 seconds left. He went to foul line and made all three to give the Pacers a 114-113, lead.
After both teams turned the ball over on ensuing possessions, Harris' dunk off a steal and pass from Simmons, put the Sixers up, 115-114, with 9.9 left.
Simmons followed that up with a steal with 7.9 seconds left. Harris was fouled 2.8 seconds later. He made a pair of foul shot to put the Sixers up three. But Brogdon responded with a pair of foul shots to close the gap to one point (117-116) with 3.8 seconds left.
Embiid, however, answered with a pair of foul shots with 2.8 seconds remaining to extend the Sixers' cushion to three points. Simmons clinched the game by stealing Jeremy Lamb's long inbound pass on the game's final possession.
There was a thought that Embiid might get Saturday night off to rest. However, he logged 33 minutes, 16 seconds in his second game on back-to-back nights. He has now played in both games of the Sixers' last two back-to-back situations.
