PHILADELPHIA — No surprise here ... well, maybe there was in the end.
The 76ers faced a New Orleans Pelicans squad that was without five of their top eight players. Of course, they did.
Facing undermanned teams has become the norm for the Sixers. They defeated the Pelicans, 109-107, in what was their seventh consecutive game against a team missing several key players.
But this one was closer than expected. The Sixers blew a 17-point second-quarter lead and trailed by three points with 1 minute, 47 seconds left.
Joel Embiid pulled them with one point, 107-106, on a pair of foul shots eight seconds later. Then Tobias Harris drained a 3-pointer with 1:10 to put the Sixers up 109-107.
Things got interesting down the stretch.
The Sixers were called for an eight-second violation with 10.7 remaining, giving the Pelicans the ball. But Eric Bledsoe drove the lane and turned the ball over while passing to a teammate. Embiid got the ball and the Sixers escaped with the win.
Embiid finished with 37 points and 13 rebounds. Harris added 17 points.
The Sixers (46-21) have won all seven games against undermanned foes to post their longest winning streak of the season. The Eastern Conference’s first-place team now has a three-game cushion over the second-place Brooklyn Nets with five games left.
The Pelicans (30-36) seemed to not have a legitimate chance after the team confirmed Friday that Zion Williamson was out indefinitely with a fractured left finger.
Teammates Steven Adams (right first MTP sprain), former Villanova standout Josh Hart (right thumb surgery), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (left high ankle sprain) and Brandon Ingram (left ankle sprain) were also sidelined.
That left the Pelicans with just two regular starters in Lonzo Ball and Eric Bledsoe, and nine available players.
The Sixers didn’t have to contend with the 6-foot-7, 284-pound Williamson, who was unstoppable against them back on April 4. He finished with 37 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists to lead New Orleans to 101-94 victory.
While it’s unclear when Williamson suffered the injury, Pelicans general manager David Griffin has an idea how it happened.
“Quite frankly, he’s injured because of the open season that there’s been on Zion Williamson in the paint,” Griffin said. “He has been absolutely mauled in the paint on a regular basis to the point where other players have said to him ‘I’m going to keep doing this to you’ because they don’t call it.
“There is more violence encouraged in the paint than any player I’ve seen since Shaq. It was egregious and horrific then. The same is true now.”
Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy agreed with Griffin.
He noted that Williams takes a lot of hits and that the team has been on the referees hard.
“I get the response, ‘How many free throws has he shot?’ My response is always ‘Not enough. Not enough.’ ” Van Gundy said. “The guy gets hit all the time.”
The Pelicans have had communication with the league.
“We sent stuff in, but I don’t think they really care to be honest,” Van Gundy said. “When people send stuff in, I don’t think they really care. It’s looked at. I think it’s just, obviously, you have a vested interest like we do, and it’s looked at as whining.”
The Sixers took advantage of Williamson’s absence. Now they’re three wins away from clinching the No. 1 seed provided the Nets (43-44) and third-place Milwaukee Bucks win all their remaining games.
The Sixers host the Detroit Pistons on Saturday, then they’ll have two road games against the Indiana Pacers (Tuesday) and Miami (Thursday). The Sixers finish the regular season with games against the Orlando Magic next Friday and May 16.
Some have questioned if the standings give a true depiction of the league pecking order due to all the injuries. Coach Doc Rivers thinks they give an accurate assessment.
“Every year, there’s injuries,” Rivers said. “Usually the teams that are on the top are usually the right teams. I would say the Lakers right now would be the only exception with all the injuries they have and being the defending champions. You give them their due.
“But other than that, no I think it is what it is.”
The Sixers had a commanding 17-point lead in the second quarter Friday. However, the Pelicans took their first lead of the game (89-88) on Kiara Lewis Jr.’s 3-pointer with 22.7 seconds left in the third quarter. That was part of a personal 6-0 run by Lewis that gave New Orleans a 91-88 lead after three quarters.
A lot of the damage came against the Sixers’ bench. So with the Pelicans up, 95-91, Ben Simmons was inserted back into the game with 9:30 left. Then Harris came back in 14 seconds later, and Embiid, Seth Curry and Danny Green joined them with the Sixers down, 101-94, with 7:50 remaining. Green drained a corner 3-pointer seven seconds later. Harris hit one of the ensuing possession to pull the Sixers within one point, 101-100. Then Harris’ four-foot jumper gave the Sixers a 102-101 lead with 6:27 remaining.
