PHILADELPHIA _ One of the 76ers' key additions made his long-awaited debut Monday as the team won back-to-back games for the first time since March 2015.
The team's top free-agent signee, Jerryd Bayless, saw limited action as the Sixers defeated the Miami Heat, 101-94, at the Wells Fargo Center.
The victory improved the Sixers to 4-10 and marked the first time they won consecutive games since beating the Detroit Pistons on March 18 and the New York Knicks on March 20 in 2015. It also extended their home winning streak to four games.
They also snapped a two-game series losing streak to the equally banged-up Heat (4-9).
Miami was without Justise Winslow (sore left wrist), Wayne Ellington (right thigh contusion), Willie Reed (hyperextended right knee) and Chris Bosh (blood clots). The Sixers are still without Ben Simmons (right foot) and Nerlens Noel (left knee) after both had surgery.
But Sixers Ersan Ilyasova (sore left foot) and Gerald Henderson (flu symptoms) toughed it out like Bayless.
With the score tied at 91 with 3 minutes, 38 seconds left, the Sixers broke the game open with a 10-0 run. Joel Embiid scored five of those points _ all from the foul line. His last foul shot gave the Sixers a 101-91 lead with 39.1 seconds left.
The rookie center finished with a team-high 22 points to go with five rebounds and three blocked shots. Henderson added 19 points.
Miami's Hassan Whiteside finished with game highs of 32 points and 13 rebounds. South Philly's Dion Waiters added 19 points in the loss.
Bayless finished with four points and five assists in 16 minutes as a reserve. The point guard has been sidelined with left wrist ligament damage since the first few days of training camp in September.
But he entered the game at the 5:40 mark of the first quarter with his left wrist taped underneath a wristband. The point guard was more like a coach on the floor. He kept instructing teammates on where they should be. Bayless, however, did not use his left arm unless he had to.
The ninth-year veteran banged up the wrist while turning over the ball early in the second quarter. He was taken out of the game shortly afterward.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pounder later fell to court while being fouled in the third quarter. He shook his wrist a little while lying on the court and again walking to the foul line. He went on to make the foul shots to give the Sixers a 76-72 lead with 1:27 left in the quarter.
Bayless signed a three-year, $27 million free-agent deal with the Sixers in July. He averaged 10.4 points, 3.1 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 28 minutes last season with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Sixers are his eighth NBA stop since the Indiana Pacers made him the 11th overall draft pick in 2008. The Pacers traded him to the Portland Trail Blazers 13 days later.
Three and a half hours before facing the Heat, the Sixers reassigned rookie Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot to the Delaware 87ers, their NBA Development League team.
The swingman played Monday night's Sevens game against the Greensboro Swarm at the Bob Carpenter Center. He could rejoin the team on Tuesday.
Luwawu-Cabarrot has averaged 1.7 points and five minutes in nine appearances for the Sixers this season. He was the 24th overall pick in the draft in June.
"I think he has a real future," coach Brett Brown said. "I think (president of basketball operations) Bryan (Colangelo) did a hell of a job selecting him. The motivation is obvious with Delaware. We can get him games and it's right down the road.
"Ultimately, he needs to play basketball."
