PHILADELPHIA _ Sometime in the NBA, you have snoozers _ games that will put fans to sleep if they're not careful.
Well, the 76ers had one Friday night against the New Orleans Pelicans, less than 24 hours after an emotional road win against the Boston Celtics.
They dozed off after a 39-point first quarter but awakened in time to emerge with an unimpressive 116-109 victory over the struggle Pelicans at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Sixers improved to 20-7 and a league-best 14-0 at home. Meanwhile, New Orleans dropped to 6-20 as their losing streak reached 11 games.
Tobias Harris finished with 31 points on 12-of-20 shooting, 6 for 7 from the foul line. Joel Embiid had 24 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, one steal, one block, and two turnovers. Ben Simmons had 24 points, 11 assists, three steals, two blocks, and a turnover. Reserve guard James Ennis (10 points) was the team's other double-digit scorer. Two-way center Norvell Pelle finished with six points on 3-of-4 shooting, to go along with five rebounds and three blocks in 12 minutes off the bench.
Brandon Ingram led the Pelicans with 32 points.
Sixers forward/center Al Horford missed his second straight game with left knee soreness and left hamstring tightness. Kyle O'Quinn is usually the backup center when Horford and Embiid are out. However, the Sixers elected to go with Pelle off the bench before O'Quinn, who played 5 minutes.
This game marked New Orleans shooting guard JJ Redick's first game against Philly since leaving as a free agent after two seasons with the Sixers. Redick, a 3-point specialist, finished with 19 points while making 3 of 5 3-pointers.
The Sixers missed the spacing that he provided for Embiid the past two seasons. The Sixers had a play call for Redick that they haven't used since his departure,
"We're just different," coach Brett Brown said. "He's come in and he's got this skill set of flying off pin-downs, and off-balance shots, and he takes a second of getting his shot. And it's unique, he's very unique to the NBA."
Brown said he misses Redick as a person and not just as a player.
The Sixers acknowledged the 35-year-old's return with a video tribute during a break in the first quarter. He received a standing ovation from the sellout crowd.
That and Pelle's blocks were among a handful of exciting things that happened in the game. The Sixers appeared to be sleepwalking against one of the league's worst teams.
The Pelicans pulled within five points on Jaxson Hayes' 12-footer with 1:46 remaining. The Pelicans went on to intentionally foul Ben Simmons for the third time in a span of a couple of minutes. This time, he responded by making both foul shots to give the Sixers a seven-point cushion.
Simmons was intentionally fouled again with New Orleans down 109-105 with 45 seconds left. He converted both foul shots.
The Pelicans again pulled with four points (111-107) with 30 seconds left. After a Sixers timeout, Embiid was fouled. He split a pair of foul shots to give the five-point cushion with 27.2 seconds remaining.
The center fouled Jrue Holiday on a 3-point attempt with 21.0 seconds left. Holiday made two of three to close the gap to three points (112-109).
But Embiid and Harris combined to make four foul shots to set the final score.
