Tyrese Maxey scored 36 points, including clutch plays late in regulation and at the end of overtime, lifting the Philadelphia 76ers to a 128-122 home win over the Houston Rockets on Thursday.
Maxey added 10 assists for Philadelphia, while Joel Embiid put up some impressive stats of his own with 32 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. Kelly Oubre Jr. chipped in 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting for the Sixers.
Kevin Durant fueled Houston’s offense with 36 points, although he also committed eight of the team’s 17 turnovers. Amen Thompson pitched in with 17 points and nine assists for the Rockets, who had their three-game winning streak halted.
Houston led 107-101 before Maxey scored 11 points in the final four minutes of regulation to draw Philadelphia even at 115-115 with 40.1 seconds left.
With the teams still deadlocked and time winding down in regulation, Maxey’s layup was ruled a clean block — although replays clearly showed it was goaltending — and Philadelphia could not challenge the play due to an inadvertent whistle.
In overtime, the teams were tied once again with 2:28 left when Maxey drove for the go-ahead layup. Oubre weaved through the defense for a layup of his own to make it 124-120 with 1:10 remaining.
Durant’s tough jumper halved Houston’s deficit with 23.3 seconds to go. But Maxey answered with two free throws followed by a transition dunk to put the exclamation point on the Sixers’ victory.
Houston led by eight midway through the first quarter before Philadelphia rallied to get within 34-32 after 12 minutes.
Embiid dominated the second quarter with 12 points, including eight free throws, as the Sixers took a 68-61 lead into the locker room.
The Rockets opened the third quarter with a quick 8-2 run, but the Sixers built their lead back to 82-74 on Oubre’s dunk midway through the period. Several minutes later, Oubre’s 3-pointer gave the hosts an 88-79 advantage.
The visitors then reeled off nine quick points to tie the score before Paul George beat the buzzer with a jumper to give Philadelphia a 90-88 lead heading into the fourth.
