Embiid gave Philadelphia a win in the NBA, Denver surprisingly lost again

< /p> NBA basketball game Philadelphia – Portland, March 10, 2023. Philadelphia's Joel Embiid scores in the middle.

Philadelphia – NBA leading scorer Joel Embiid scored 39 points, including a game-winning shot with one second left, to lead Philadelphia's 120-119 win over Portland. The Sixers are tied with second-place Boston for third in the Eastern Conference. On the contrary, the leader of the Western Conference, Denver, surprisingly lost for the second time in a row against a significantly weaker opponent. This time it was not enough for San Antonio, losing to them 120:128 and for the first time in the season, they lost a game in which Nikola Jokic recorded a triple double. The star Serb collected 37 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.

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At the same time, Philadelphia did not play an excellent match at home. The whole time she was closing in on the lead of the opponent, which grew to 21 points in the first half. And with five minutes to go, Portland led by 10 points. But then the Sixers were helped by two three-pointers from DeAnthony Melton and James Harden, and the hosts returned to the game with a 10-0 streak.

Portland was still leading in the end before Embiid took the ball. His drive over Jusuf Nurkic was stopped by Damian Lillard with a double, but Embiid got free with a spin and hit the winning shot from the free throw circle.

“That's my spot. It's the least-defended spot because everybody's guarding the basket and the three,” Embiid said. “We were already losing by twenty and many thought it was over. But this group does not give up. We just have to work on not getting into this position,” he added. Anfernee Simons led Portland with 34 points, Jeremi Grant had 24 points and Lillard had 22 points.

After losing to Chicago, Denver was not even the third worst team in the San Antonio competition. He led by 12 points after the first quarter, but then the Spurs bench shined. Tre Jones revived the game with 14 points and 8 assists, and with him on the court, the Spurs won by 21 points. Doug McDermott added 20 points. The team's top scorer was Keldon Johnson with 23 points.

Denver has traditionally relied on reigning MVP Jokic, who scored his 26th triple double of the season. In the previous 25 cases, it was always enough to win, but not on Friday for the first time. “It's a great feeling. We put the fans to sleep a little bit in the first quarter, but then we woke them up with a good performance and it was great to hear them screaming with joy. Our fans deserved this win,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

< p>A great bench also helped the Los Angeles Lakers, who won 122:112 over Toronto and, after their third win in a row, are in ninth place in the Western Conference. D`Angelo Russell returned from injury to score 28 points and add 9 assists. Subs Rui Hachimura, Auston Reaves and Dennis Schröder combined for 57 points to help turn the score around as Toronto led by as many as 15 points.

Atlanta won 114-107 over Washington and secured the eighth position in the East. Trae Young contributed 28 points, including a key three-pointer with a minute left. Czech representative Vít Krejčí did not get a chance again and remained on the Hawks bench.

Results of Friday's NBA games:

LA Lakers – Toronto 122:112, Miami – Cleveland 119:115, Minnesota – Brooklyn 123:124 overtime, Philadelphia – Portland 120:119, San Antonio – Denver 128:120, Washington – Atlanta 107:114.

NBA Standings:

Eastern Conference,< /h4>

Atlantic Division:

Central Division:

Southeast Division:

Western Conference,

Southwest Division:

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Northwest Division:

Pacific Division: