PHILADELPHIA _ The 76ers remain undefeated at home.
In what was their stiffest test to date at the Wells Fargo Center, Joel Embiid had 41 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Sixers to 122-113 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night.
The Sixers are 5-4 with all of their wins coming at home. This victory also marked their fourth straight win against the Clippers (4-4).
But it wasn't easy.
The Sixers blew a 22-point second-quarter lead, battled back from a four-point deficit and held off several Los Angeles charges.
JJ Redick and Embiid halted their last comeback attempt.
The Clipper closed the gap to 112-109 after Danilo Gallinari's foul shots with 3 minutes, 5 seconds left. Redick responded with a 3-pointer 37 seconds later to push the Sixers lead up to six points. Embiid scored the next four points.
The All-Star center's cutting dunk with 1:39 to play made it a 117-109 game. Then the crowd chanted "MVP ... MVP ... MVP" as Embiid made a foul shot with 1:14 remaining to give his squad a nine-point lead.
This was his sixth time with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds this season. That's the most by an NBA player through the first nine games since Hall of Famer Karl Malone had six during the 1988-89 season. Embiid also had four blocks.
Redick added 18 points in a reserve role. Ben Simmons had 14 points, 11 assists and just two turnovers two nights after committing a career-worst 11.
The Sixers had 16 turnovers after coming off a 23-turnover performance in Tuesday night's loss at the Toronto Raptors. Eight of their turnovers came in the first quarter of that game.
Philly showed improvement early on in that area, committing just three in the first 12 minutes of action. The Sixers also rode Embiid's 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting to take a 34-30 lead into the second quarter.
They opened to quarter with a 23-9 run to take a 57-39 advantage following Ben Simmons scored on a running finger roll with 6:27 before intermission. The Sixers' lead extended to 22 points (65-43) thank to Landry Shamet's third 3-pointer 2:14 later.
Los Angeles got back into the game in the third quarter thanks to Gallinari (11 points) and Tobias Harris (nine) combining for 20 points. Gallinari's 3-pointer with 3:34 left in the quarter capped an 16-2 run to give the Clippers an 84-80 advantage.
The Sixers responded with a reverse layup by Markelle Fultz, a four-point play by Mike Muscala, and a Fultz' finger roll to lead 88-84 with 1:14 left in the quarter.
The guard scored six of the Sixers' final 10 points of the quarter as they took a four-point advantage (90-86) into the fourth quarter.
The Sixers went on to extend their lead to 11 points twice before the Clipper starting chipping away at their cushion.
Lou Williams paced the Clippers with 26 points off the bench. Gallinari added 25 while making 4 of 8 3-pointers. Harris finished with 24 points.
