PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid finished with 40 points and 19 rebounds to lead the 76ers to a 131-123 overtime victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday at the Wells Fargo Center.
Tobias Harris, who missed the previous two games with a right knee bruise, scored 11 of his 22 points in the extra session as the Sixers concluded the first half of the season with a 24-12 record. Their first game after the NBA All-Star break is against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center on March 11.
Meanwhile, the Jazz (27-9) have lost consecutive games for just the second time this season. Utah has also lost three of four games and four of its last seven after winning nine straight and 20 of 21 games.
Wednesday’s game was a rarity as the NBA’s best teams in their respective conferences met in their final games before the break.
The Sixers headed into the matchup a half-game ahead of the Brooklyn Nets atop the Eastern Conference standings. The Jazz were 3 1/2 games ahead of the Western Conference’s second-place Phoenix Suns.
This game also featured two of the league’s elite centers in All-Stars Embiid and Utah’s Rudy Gobert.
Gobert has had recent success against Embiid, but Wednesday night was different as Embiid made 14 of 27 shots. The Jazz center finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Donovan Mitchell paced the Jazz with 33 points before fouling out late. Ben Simmons added 17 points and six assists for the Sixers.
