Philadelphia’s Dwight Howard, second from left, tries to go up for a shot against Oklahoma City’s Jaylen Hoard, left, Charles Brown Jr. and Isaiah Roby during Monday’s game in Philadelphia. Matt Slocum/Associated Press

 

PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid scored 21 points, Ben Simmons had 12 in his return to the lineup and the Philadelphia 76ers beat Oklahoma City 121-90 on Monday night, sending the Thunder to their franchise record-tying 14th straight loss.

The Thunder lost 14 straight games in their first season in Oklahoma City in 2008-09 and can set the team mark for consecutive defeats Tuesday at Boston.

The Sixers had an NBA-season high 22 steals. Tobias Harris had four.

The Sixers know a thing or two about long losing streaks. Philadelphia had skids of 26 and 28 games between the 2013-15 seasons — and drafted Embiid and Simmons out of that mess. The Thunder have 34 draft picks over the next seven years and can only hope they find franchise cornerstones like the Sixers did during their rebuild dubbed The Process.

Simmons proved his value to the Sixers after missing the last four games with an illness. The Sixers even listed the All-Star as out against the Thunder before reversing course and sticking him in the lineup. The Sixers went 0-4 over that span — the first two at home, then consecutive games at Milwaukee – and lost their grip on first place in the Eastern Conference.

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“We miss him a ton,” Coach Doc Rivers said.

SUNS 118, KNICKS 110: Devin Booker scored 33 points and Phoenix capped a grueling road trip with a victory that snapped New York’s nine-game winning streak.

Chris Paul scored the final seven Phoenix points as the Suns held on to finish 3-2 on their trip that included visits to the top four teams in the Eastern Conference. Beaten a day earlier by Brooklyn, they fell behind by 15 quickly in this one before gaining control in the fourth quarter. Mikal Bridges added 21 points and Paul had 20.

Derrick Rose had 22 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Knicks, who were on their longest winning streak since a 13-game run late in the 2012-13 season. Julius Randle scored 18 points but was off his form from most of the streak, shooting just 6 for 17 with six rebounds and four assists.

TIMBERWOLVES 105, JAZZ 104: D’Angelo Russell had a season-high seven 3-pointers and scored 27 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and 11 rebounds as Minnesota rallied to beat Utah in Minneapolis.

Mike Conley gave Utah a 104-103 lead with 6.4 seconds left, but Ricky Rubio found Russell for a layup on the ensuing possession. Conley then lost the ball in a scramble on the Jazz’s final possession as time expired.

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Minnesota (18-44) is 3-0 against Utah (44-17) this season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it’s the first time in NBA history a team with a win percentage below .300 swept a series of at least three games against a team with a win percentage of at least .700.

Anthony Edwards added 14 points for Minnesota, which has won four of its last six games.

BULLS 110, HEAT 102: Nikola Vucevic scored 24 points, Daniel Theis added 23 and Chicago moved closer to the last play-in spot in the Eastern Conference with a win in Miami. Coby White added 17 points for the Bulls, who finished the game on a 36-20 run and outrebounded Miami 51-34. Theis had 12 rebounds and Vucevic 11 for Chicago.

Jimmy Butler scored 33 points and Bam Adebayo added 23 for Miami, which missed a chance to move into the No. 6 spot in the East and give coach Erik Spoelstra his 600th career regular-season win. Trevor Ariza added 18 points for the Heat.

The Heat remained No. 7, a half-game behind Boston for the final guaranteed playoff spot in the East. Chicago moved within one game of No. 10 Washington, which lost to San Antonio yet remains in the final play-in round position.

LAKERS 114, MAGIC 103: Dennis Schroder scored 13 of 21 points in the fourth quarter, Anthony Davis added 18 points and eight rebounds and Los Angeles rallied in the fourth quarter to win in Orlando, Florida.

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Trailing 80-79 following a sluggish third quarter, the Lakers’ offense came alive late to end their losing streak at three games. LA outscored Orlando 35-23 in the fourth period, improving to 19-12 on the road and 9-20 when trailing after three quarters.

Montrezl Harrell scored 18 points off the bench for the Lakers, who shot 54% from the floor and hit 11 3-pointers. Andre Drummond chipped in 13 points and 11 rebounds for Los Angeles.

PISTONS 100, HAWKS 86: Jerami Grant and Frank Jackson scored 18 points apiece as Detroit beat visiting Atlanta.

The Hawks shot just 39% from the field and 4 of 27 from 3-point range. It was their lowest-scoring game of the season. There was one bright note for Atlanta: Kris Dunn made his first appearance of the season following right ankle surgery. Dunn, who signed with the Hawks in the offseason, went scoreless in 13 minutes.

SPURS 146, WIZARDS 143 (OT): DeMar DeRozan had 37 points and 10 assists, and San Antonio outlasted the Wizards in overtime, ending Washington’s season-best eight-game winning streak.

DeRozan scored nine of his points in the fourth quarter and overtime. Neither team led by more than three points after DeRozan’s jumper pulled the Spurs within 118-115 with 5:13 left in the fourth.

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Bradley Beal had 45 points for the Wizards, who fell one victory short of matching the franchise’s best streak.

PELICANS 120, CLIPPERS 103: Zion Williamson scored 23 points on an array of power moves, spinning dribbles and even a 3-pointer, and  New Orleans beat visiting Los Angeles.

Lonzo Ball had 18 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals for New Orleans, which entered the night 4 1/2 games out of the final Western Conference play-in spot. Terance Mann scored 17 points and DeMarcus Cousins added 16 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots for the Clippers, who were without Kawhi Leonard (foot) for a fourth straight game.

NOTES

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Orlando center Mo Bamba, left, covers teammate Devin Cannady’s ankle with his jersey after Cannady was injured during the first half Sunday against the Indiana Pacers. John Raoux/Associated Press

MAGIC: Devin Cannady of the Orlando Magic underwent surgery on Monday to clean out his dislocated right ankle, though tests showed he did not fracture it as originally feared.

A series of exams including X-rays, a CT scan and MRI showed that Cannady’s bones and cartilage remained intact, the Magic said. Cannady dislocated the ankle during Sunday night’s game against Indiana, a gruesome injury after which he needed to be removed from the court on a stretcher.

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Magic teammate Mo Bamba removed his own jersey and draped it over Cannady’s ankle as his teammate lay on the court writhing in pain, an effort to shield the scene from the view of others – Cannady included.

“I just did what he would probably do for me,” Bamba said. “I didn’t want him to see it.”

Cannady will not play again this season. The Magic said a plaster splint was applied to the ankle on Monday and that the former Princeton guard is expected to make a full recovery.

Cannady appeared in eight games for Orlando this season, averaging 4.3 points. He was the MVP of this season’s G League playoffs, after helping the Orlando-affiliated Lakeland Magic to that league’s championship.

CAVALIERS: Forward Larry Nance Jr. broke his right thumb in Sunday’s loss at Washington and likely will miss the remainder of the season.

Nance’s injury was one of several suffered by Cleveland players and will leave the Cavaliers short-handed for Monday night’s game against Toronto in Florida. Guard Matthew Dellavedova is out with a neck strain and after receiving four stitches when he was accidentally head-butted. Also, center Isaiah Hartenstein and forward Lamar Stevens suffered concussions against the Wizards.

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Leading scorer Collin Sexton missed the game with a concussion he got last week in Charlotte. He also has been ruled out again, and there’s no timeline on a return.

The broken thumb is the latest medical setback for Nance, who missed seven games recently with an undisclosed illness and more than a month with a broken left hand. The 28-year-old Nance is averaging 9.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in 35 games.

ROCKETS: Houston guard John Wall is likely to miss the rest of the season with strained right hamstring.

Wall was injured on Friday against the Los Angeles Clippers. He had an MRI on Monday and was diagnosed with the injury by Dr. Steven Flores. His injury is yet another blow in a difficult season for the Rockets, who at 15-46 have become the NBA’s worst team since the trade of superstar James Harden. Houston has 11 games remaining.

Wall has dealt with various injuries this season and missed 21 games in his return after missing all of last season following Achilles tendon surgery. When healthy, he’s been one of the team’s top players, averaging 20.6 points and 6.9 assists in 40 games.


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