NEW YORK _ This was supposed to an easy game for the 76ers. One of those jump-out-to-a-sizable-lead, then-rest-your-starters and hope-no-one-gets-hurt type of games.
Yet, the Sixers found themselves trailing the by 13 points early in the third quarter to one of the NBA worst teams. Sparked by a 20-5 fourth-quarter run, they escaped with a 118-110 victory Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
Joel Embiid paced the Sixers (37-30) with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Nineteen of his points came in the first half. The All-Star center had his left hand taped during Thursday morning's shootaround and at the start of the game. However, he took the tape off in the first quarter.
The Sixers had all five of their starters and sixth man Marco Belinelli score in double-figures.
Ben Simmons had 13 points, 12 points and 10 rebounds for his second straight and eighth triple-double of the season. Robert Covington added 21 points and 12 rebounds. JJ Redick added 17 points, with eight coming in the fourth quarter. Dario Saric had 15 points while making 5 of 7 3-pointers.
Belinelli had 10 points.
Their performances enable the sixth-place Sixers to pull within one game of the fifth-place Washington Wizards in the Eastern Conference standings.
Meanwhile, the Knicks (24-45) extended their losing streak to nine games. This also marked their 17th loss in 18 games.
Early Thursday, there was a lot of intrigue surrounding Embiid's left wrist.
He had his left wrist taped up at the morning shootaround at Asphalt Green. Embiid obviously knew why. However, he did not speak to reporters after the shootaround. So coach Brett Brown was asked what's wrong with Embiid's wrist.
"I don't think anything," Brown said before spotting Embiid as he exited the gym. "I see that it's taped. I don't know. I see that it's taped, but I don't know that."
Neither did the public relations representative, who pointed out that Embiid wasn't on the injury report and would play against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. (This is the team's franchise center. Wouldn't you expect someone on the team to be curious enough to ask the reason for the tape?)
However, Brown reiterated that he still didn't know what was wrong with Embiid's wrist during his pregame media availability. The coach said that he didn't ask and wasn't concerned, because Embiid was playing. Embiid blew off his pregame media obligation. So he wasn't available to ask why.
His hand didn't appear to bother at the start, though. He scored 12 of his points in the first 6 minutes, 14 seconds.
Covington's 3-pointer with 3 minutes, 21 seconds gave the Sixers a 106-104 lead. It was their first advantage since leading 52-50 on a Covington 3 with 6:26 before intermission.
After Courtney Lee's knotted the score, the Sixers scored seven straight points. Embiid made a foul shot with 2:45 left. JJ Redick's 3-pointer with 2:17 left gave them a four-point cushion. Then Saric's 3-pointer at 1:58 mark made it a 113-106 game.
That capped a defining 20-5 run by the Sixers.
