PHILADELPHIA _ The 76ers finally showed up in the first quarter.
They led by 14 points after one quarter en route to defeating the New York Knicks, 117-91, Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
The victory improved the Sixers to 15-8 and marked their sixth victory in seven games. They also improved to 11-1 at home, matching the Golden State Warriors for the most home wins in the NBA. Meanwhile, the weary Knicks dropped to 7-16. They were playing their third game in four nights.
The Sixers took advantage of that in a contest they never trailed. That was a big difference from their last two matchups _ both against losing teams.
They battled back from two 20-point, first-half deficits to beat the Brooklyn Nets, 127-125, on the road on Sunday. Two nights before that, they trailed by 14 in the first quarter in a 121-112 home loss to the woeful Cleveland Cavaliers.
But on Wednesday, the Sixers led 41-27 after shooting 69.6 percent from the field and making 5 of 9 3-pointers in the first quarter. JJ Redick had the hot hand early on scoring 16 of his 24 points in the first quarter. The Sixers shooting guard made all six of his shot attempts _ including two 3-pointers _ in the opening quarter.
While the Sixers were off and running, the Knicks struggled from the field. They missed several wide-open attempts, shooting 34.8 percent overall and 20.7 percent on 3-pointers for the game.
The Sixers went on to open a 31-point lead twice late in the fourth quarter. They tied a floor record of 34 assists in a game.
Joel Embiid recorded his league-best 21 double-double of the season with 26 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in 30 minutes, 16 seconds of action. He and Redick left the game with 8:30 remaining.
The other starters, Ben Simmons (14 points, eight rebounds, seven assists), Wilson Chandler (eight points, six rebounds), and Jimmy Butler (seven points, four rebounds) sat out the fourth quarter.
Enes Kanter and Mario Hezonja paced the Knicks with 17 points apiece.
