Joel Embiid reached a double-double by halftime and finished with 30 points and 12 rebounds as the Philadelphia 76ers cruised to their fourth consecutive win with a 116-96 rout of the host Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.
Embiid finished the first half with a flurry, scoring nine points over the final 1:52 going into intermission. He went into the locker room with 22 of his game-high points and 10 of his game-high rebounds, and Philadelphia pushed an 11-point lead to 20 with Embiid’s surge.
The 76ers (43-35) led wire-to-wire and faced little resistance in the second half as their advantage swelled to as many as 27 points.
All 12 76ers who saw the floor made at least one field goal, and 10 made at least one 3-pointer. Nicolas Batum’s 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc led Philadelphia to a 16-of-39 night from deep. Batum scored all nine of his points from long distance.
Kelly Oubre Jr. finished with 17 points, while KJ Martin and Jeff Dowtin Jr. each scored in double figures off the bench with 10 and 11 points. Paul Reed made four steals in a reserve role, contributing to the 18 total turnovers the 76ers forced.
Philadelphia converted those turnovers into 26 points. Despite committing 18 turnovers of their own, the Sixers limited Memphis to 17 points off of them.
The Grizzlies (27-51) shot just 36-for-87 from the floor and 9-for-26 from 3-point range as their three-game winning streak came to an end.
Scotty Pippen Jr. recorded a career-high 24 points to lead Memphis. Maozinha Pereira posted his first career double-double with 13 points and a personal best 11 rebounds.
GG Jackson added 17 points, Jordan Goodwin finished with 15 points, and Zavier Simpson scored 14 points with four rebounds and four assists off the bench.
–Field Level Media