PHILADELPHIA _ Yep, the 76ers are consistent.
Lose on the road and win at home has been their formula. So of course they would defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 120-113, at the Wells Fargo Center on Monday night after losing four straight road games.
The Sixers improved to 24-14 and ended their skid. The Thunder (20-16) had their five-game winning streak snapped. OKC went into the contest as the league's hottest team with nine wins in its last 10 games.
Philly improved to 17-2 at home after dropping to 7-12 on the road Friday. The Sixers also ended a 10-game losing streak to the Thunder in Philly. Their last home win came in 2008.
Joel Embiid showed a lot of heart.
The center wasn't the Sixers' best player but he was the toughest, suffering a dislocated left ring finger in the first quarter. He went to the locker room twice to get it treated in the quarter.
Playing with pain, Embiid finished with 18 points, 9 rebounds, and a season-high 8 assists in 32 minutes, 37 seconds. He had his dislocated finger re-evaluated by a doctor after the game.
Josh Richardson finished with a team-high 23 points. Ben Simmons added 17 points, a season-high 15 rebounds, and 8 assists. Tobias Harris (18 points), Al Horford (13), and reserve Trey Burke (12) were the Sixers' other double-digit scorers.
Steven Adams paced the Thunder with game highs of 24 points and 15 rebounds.
But this night was highlighted by Embiid's gritty performance.
The second time he exited the game was with 1:26 left in the first quarter. At that time, his finger was awkwardly pointed outward in front of his little finger.
Embiid returned at the start of the second quarter. He rarely used his left hand before being subbed out of the game with 7:44 left before intermission.
Embiid was more aggressive after going back in with 2:46 before intermission.
He had two points on 1-for-5 shooting in the first quarter. He added four more points on 2-for-3 shooting in the second. In addition to his six points, Embiid had five rebounds and three assists at the half.
The Sixers closed out the half with a 16-5 run to take a 62-52 advantage.
Harris had 13 points at the break while making 3 of 4 three-pointers. Richardson added 12 points, while Simmons had 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists at the break.
Embiid scored a bucket 9 seconds into the second half to put the Sixers up 12. Then he added a pair of foul shots on the ensuing possession to make it 66-42 33 seconds into the second half.
Embiid went on to block Danilo Gallinari's layup with 10:52 left in the third quarter. However, the Thunder pulled within one point twice in the fourth quarter. The second time came on Dennis Schroder's layup to make it 98-97 with 7:44 left.
But the Sixers went on to take a nine-point cushion before holding on for a 120-113 win.
Sixers rookie Matisse Thybulle missed his seventh consecutive game with a right-knee sprain and bone bruise. The recovery time was estimated at two to four weeks. He had the knee evaluated Saturday, at the two-week mark.
Thybulle, who had been doing moderate shooting, was upgraded to three-on-three scrimmaging during practice Sunday.
There's a chance that Thybulle, who feels good, could return Thursday against the Boston Celtics.
