PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid scored 29 of his season-high 48 points in the third quarter and the Philadelphia 76ers rolled to their fifth straight victory, 146-128 over the Washington Wizards on Monday night.
Philadelphia is unbeaten after a one-point loss at Milwaukee in its opener.
“It was good to get another win and get everyone out on the court,” Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse said. “Now, we’ll just keep on going and get back out on the court tomorrow.”
In the third quarter, Embiid was 10 for 10 from the floor and 9 for 9 from the foul to help the 76ers extend their lead to 120-98.
“That’s pretty efficient,” Nurse deadpanned.
Embiid has scored 40 or more points 40 times in the regular season. He also had 11 rebounds and six assists while sitting out the fourth quarter for the second straight game.
“It was just taking advantage of what was available,” Embiid said. “We played a team. It looks like a lot of points, but a lot of it came just in the flow of the offense.”
Tobias Harris had 18 and DeAnthony Melton a season-high 14 for the Sixers. Nicolas Baton, who was picked up as one of the pieces in the trade that sent James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers, scored 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting in his Sixers debut.
“I like to think that we’ve played aggressively and we’re looking for opportunities early when we get the ball,” Nurse said.
Kyle Kuzma scored 28 points for Washington, and Jordan Poole had 23. The Wizards have lost four straight to fall to 1-5.