PHILADELPHIA _ Of course, the 76ers beat the Los Angeles Clippers.
Winning prime-time, marquee games at the Wells Fargo Center is what the Sixers are known for. There were just a lot of storylines heading into Tuesday night's 110-103 decision.
Tobias Harris was playing his former team for the first time since it traded him. This marked the first time Al Horford didn't start in a game since his rookie season for the Atlanta Hawks in 2007-08. And there was the question of how the Sixers faithful would react to Joel Embiid after he shushed them on Sunday and trolled them on social media Monday?
Well, as expected, the three-time All-Star center was given the Philly salute by getting booed loudly during pregame introductions. It was actually the third consecutive game that he was booed by the home crowd.
Yet those boos turned into cheers during what was Philly's third consecutive victory.
The Sixers (34-21) can also add this game to their list of marquee statement home wins over elite teams. The fifth-place squad in the Eastern Conference now has victories over the top four teams in both conferences at home.
Philly owns a league-best 25-2 home record.
Kawhi Leonard finished with a game-high 30 points to go with 9 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks for the Clippers (37-17). Paul George struggled, finishing with 11 points on 3-for-15 shooting.
Ben Simmons paced the Sixers with his second consecutive triple-double and sixth of the season. The point guard had 26 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. Embiid had 26 points and Josh Richardson finished with 21.
But this contest had to special for Harris.
This marked his first game against the Clippers after they traded him to the Sixers on Feb. 6, 2019. The forward finished with 17 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Eleven of his points came in the first quarter.
Harris started at power forward due to the Sixers' drastic change to their starting lineup. And it had nothing to do with Josh Richardson returning to the lineup in his third game back from injury.
Sharpshooting Furkan Korkmaz started at small forward while struggling power forward Al Horford was moved to the bench. Glenn Robinson III replaced Korkmaz at small forward at the start of the second half.
This marked the first time Horford didn't start in a game since his rookie season on Nov. 21, 2007.
The Sixers signed the 13th-year veteran to a four-year, $97 million deal this summer. However, he has struggled to find a rhythm while playing alongside Embiid.
The 33-year-old Horford came into the game averaging 12.1 points, the fewest since averaging 11.5 in his second season. Horford was also shooting a career-low 43.8% from the field.
Korkmaz (no points on 0-for-5 shooting), however, was coming off consecutive 30-plus-point performances.
On this night, Horford and Embiid weren't on the court together until 2 minutes, 31 seconds remained in the third quarter.
Embiid went out during a stretch in fourth quarter. But he came back in with 6:56 left and played with Horford, Simmons, Richardson, and Harris until Matisse Thybulle came in for Horford with 3:20 remaining.
Embiid and the Clippers' North Philly native, Marcus Morris, got into a shoving altercation with 2:48 left under the Sixers basket. The actions occurred after Morris fouled Embiid. The two received double-technical foul. Embiid went on to split a pair of foul shots to put the Sixers up 106-97 and blocked Morris's layup attempt 33 seconds later.
