Embiid, Redick Help 76ers Beat Knicks, End 5-Game Skid
NEW YORK (AP) — Joel Embiid had 25 points and 16 rebounds, JJ Redick scored 24 points, and the Philadelphia 76ers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 105-98 victory over the New York Knicks on Monday.
Neither player was cleared to play until going through pregame warmups, and their presence gave the 76ers just enough to win their first Christmas Day appearance since 2001.
Embiid, who has been battling a bad back, powered through a big-man duel with Enes Kanter, who had a season-high 31 points and a career-best 22 rebounds.
Redick, who missed the last game with right hamstring tightness, helped the 76ers pull away from an 89-all tie midway through the fourth quarter.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 22 points for the Knicks, who fell to 22-30 on Christmas with their fifth straight loss on the holiday.
Backup point guard T.J. McConnell had Philadelphia's final eight points of the third quarter, and the 76ers pushed the lead to nine with about 9 minutes left in the game. The Knicks battled back to tied it 89 on Porzingis' three-point play with 5:20 left, but Philadelphia promptly scored the next seven to go up 96-89 on Redick's 3-pointer with 3:34 to play.
Philadelphia's young stars kept the Knicks from getting much closer, with Embiid making a 3-pointer and Ben Simmons stealing Porzingis' pass and dunking it, both times hiking the lead back to eight.
TIP-INS
76ers The 76ers waited until after Embiid had gone through warmups to determine he could play. Coach Brett Brown called Embiid a "borrowed stud" who they get to "inherit" when he is able to play. "He doesn't practice and he comes in and plays games and we're trying to grow him into a situation where he is a normal part of a team," Brown said.
Knicks: Hall of Famer Bernard King, who set the Christmas record when he scored 60 points for the Knicks against the Nets in 1984, was at the game. ... New York had won seven straight at home over Philadelphia.
FULTZ
No. 1 pick Markelle Fultz, who has missed two months with right shoulder soreness, is on the trip with the 76ers. Brown said the purpose of having the guard from Washington with the team was "to make sure that he understands completely he is a significant part of our future and that we are with him unconditionally."
"We will help move him forward in a timeline that's responsible and I just like having him with his extended family, his teammates, with me, with us," Brown added. "Those types of things."
WHAT COULD'VE BEEN
Porzingis could've been playing for the 76ers instead of against them Monday. The Knicks took him with the No. 4 pick in 2015, one spot after Philadelphia went with Jahlil Okafor, who eventually fell out of the rotation entirely and was dealt earlier this month to Brooklyn. But Brown declined to look back, saying "next question" when asked if he ever wondered "what if?" when it came to Porzingis.
TRADE TALK
Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek spent two seasons with the 76ers, going to Philadelphia as part of the 1992 trade that sent Charles Barkley to Phoenix. He said he wasn't happy about being traded but thought it ended up as a good deal that benefited both sides, comparing it to the Knicks' swap of Carmelo Anthony for Kanter and Doug McDermott. "Oklahoma City is now playing better. They're getting together with their three stars. And with Enes and Doug here, it's helped us," Hornacek said. "That's how trades should be."
UP NEXT
76ers: Visit Portland on Thursday.
Knicks: Visit Chicago on Wednesday.
(Copyright 2017 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
