NEW ORLEANS _ The 76ers came to the Big Easy and got a game that was closer than expected.
But their 111-110 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night was just half the story.
Reserve center Boban Marjanovic hurt his right knee on a defensive play with a little over a minute left in the game. Pelicans power forward Julius Randle appeared to roll the Sixer's knee while the two scrambled for the ball in the paint.
Marjanovic was noticeably in pain after falling to the court. He even banged on the hardwood. He had to be helped to the locker room.
The Sixers (39-22) were lucky to escape New Orleans with the one-point victory.
The Sixers had a commanding 17-point lead in the third quarter. But they didn't seal the victory until Jimmy Butler partially blocked E'Twaun Moore's attempt at a game-winning 3-pointer as time expired.
Tobias Harris had his highest scoring game since being acquired in a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers before the Feb. 7 deadline. The power forward had 29 points on 10-for-16 shooting to go with 10 rebounds and three assists.
Ben Simmons added 14 points and 12 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double and 34th of the season. JJ Redick (16 points), Butler (11 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists), and reserves Mike Scott (12) and Marjanovic (12 points, 10 rebounds) were the Sixers' other double-digit scorers. Scott and Marjanovic came over with Harris in the trade.
Former Sixer Jrue Holiday had 22 points, while Anthony Davis had 18 points and three blocks in just 20 minutes, 51 seconds. Julius Randles added 19 points and 14 rebounds. Jahlil Okafor, another former Sixer, had six points.
The Sixers pulled one game behind the third-place Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference with 21 games remaining.
Jonah Bolden got the start over Marjanovic at center for the Sixers.
This marked the rookie's fourth start of the season and first since Jan. 26 at the Denver Nuggets. He got the nod because he matched up better than Marjanovic against the Pelicans' All-Star center, Anthony Davis.
Joel Embiid missed his third and what was expected to be his final game because of tendinitis in his left knee. The Sixers' All-Star center will be re-evaluated in the coming days and could return Thursday for the much-anticipated game against the Thunder in Oklahoma City.
Afterward, the Sixers will have two competitive home games _ Saturday against the Golden State Warriors and Tuesday against the Orlando Magic.
While the Sixers are looking to live up to lofty expectations, the Pelicans have had a circus-like atmosphere because their best player, Davis, desperately wants out of the Big Easy.
Monday marked his fifth game back since his agent, Rich Paul, informed the team last month that Davis would not sign a contract extension. He will become a free agent after next season.
He and his agent had hoped that he would have been traded before the Feb. 7 deadline. The Los Angeles Lakers were reportedly his preferred destination. The Lakers made an aggressive push to acquire him, but New Orleans general manager Dell Demps resisted the overtures.
The team was unsure whether to play the All-Star. The Pelicans also wiped his image from their pregame hype video. But New Orleans decided to play him limited minutes after the NBA insisted he could not be shut down if healthy.
Demps left it up to coach Alvin Gentry to be the face of the franchise and address the circus-type atmosphere. One could argue that Demps' decision to lie low and play a player who ultimately will be moved led to the circus. Team owner Gayle Benson reportedly reached her breaking point and fired Demps after Davis suffered a minor shoulder injury on Feb. 14 and left the arena before the final buzzer.
It appears that Davis' relationship with the team is beyond repair. There's also a sense that the team is playing better without him. They won the last two games that he didn't play, highlighted by a 14-point victory over the Lakers on Saturday.
However, they lost three of the last four games he played in before Monday. Their lone win during that time came on the night he suffered the shoulder injury and left the arena.
Davis was booed during pregame introductions, when he touched the ball, and when he reentered the game after going to the bench Monday.
Marjanovic displayed the things he can do with his 7-foot-10 wingspan in the first half.
The 7-foot-3, 290-pounder dunked on one play while barely leaving the floor in the first quarter. Then in the second quarter he scored on a layup off a turnover without even jumping.
