Embiid returns with 42 points but does not prevent the defeat of the Sixers

After nine games lost due to a coronavirus contagion, Joel Embiid had 42 points and 14 rebounds that could not prevent the Philadelphia 76ers’ 121-120 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday in an exciting double overtime. Point guard D’Angelo Russell, with 35 points, 6 triples and 8 assists, led the Timberwolves’ long-suffering win less than 24 hours after another three-overtime game in which the Kings beat the Lakers.

The Sixers came from losing seven of the nine games in which they did not have Embiid, who after the loss gave details of his bad experience with the virus. “He hit me hard. I really thought I was not going to make it, “said the Cameroonian center. “It was so bad that I am thankful to be sitting here. I had a hard time, but I’m glad I got over it.

Embiid and Tobias Harris (17 points and 9 rebounds), also absent in the last two games due to injury, ended up playing 45 minutes each in a fast-paced duel against the burgeoning Timberwolves, who have won six of their last seven games. Young guard Anthony Edwards, with 19 points, led Minnesota in regulation time but missed a final triple that could prevent overtime.

With Karl-Anthony Towns (28 points and 10 rebounds) retired for fouls, D’Angelo Russell took over the reins of Minnesota in overtime and with two stratospheric triples put his team three points up (113-110) to 5 , 6 seconds from the end.

The Wolves made a personal on Tyrese Maxey, who made the first free throw and purposely missed the second for center Andre Drummond to tap the ball and tie at 113 amid the jubilation in the Wells Fargo Center stands.

In the second overtime, Embiid scored 7 points in a row to lead the Sixers 120-117 with two minutes to go but the Timberwolves turned him around and the Cameroonian center himself was blocked by Edwards when he was looking for the triple of the victory. Argentine rookie Leandro Bolmaro helped Minnesota win with 3 points and 3 rebounds in 17 minutes, his longest playing time of the season.

Minnesota climbs three spots to seventh in the Western Conference (10 wins and 10 losses) and the Sixers fall to tenth in the East (10-10). “We’re trying to put the league on notice, one game at a time, one win at a time,” Russell said of the Timberwolves’ streak.

In Atlanta, the Hawks had a seven-game winning streak snapped by losing 99-90 to the New York Knicks, a loss compounded by injuries to Cam Reddish and Bogdan Bogdanovic. Reddish (3 points) left the game early in the second quarter with a sprained left wrist and just three minutes later Bogdanovic (2) also limped off the court with another sprained right ankle.

Surpassing thirty points for the fourth straight game, point guard Trae Young had 33 points, 5 triples and 7 assists but had little collaboration from the rest of the Hawks, who a day before had beaten the Memphis Grizzlies. For the Knicks, Alec Burks and Frenchman Evan Fournier were the top scorers with 23 and 20 points.

The Brooklyn Nets, meanwhile, fell 113-107 to the thrown Phoenix Suns, who have won their last 16 games. Kevin Durant finished with 39 points and James Harden had a triple-double with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 14 assists. The Nets stars, however, could not contain another great choral performance by the Suns, last season’s runners-up, which was led by Devin Booker (30 points) and Chris Paul (22).