Hornets at 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers passed their win total from last season when they came from behind in the fourth quarter to down the New York Knicks on Wednesday to clinch their 11th victory, and they are ready to take bigger steps forward. The 76ers will try to earn their first three-game winning streak of the season when they host the Charlotte Hornets on Friday.
Philadelphia was down 10 with 2:29 remaining before rallying against the Knicks and grabbing the 98-97 win on T.J. McConnell's turnaround jumper at the buzzer. "They made gutsy plays," 76ers coach Brett Brown told reporters of his players. "I thought they executed stuff that we drew. I thought that they didn't play afraid. You know, we're learning." If the 76ers are looking for a postseason spot to take, the Hornets seem to be putting their up for grabs of late with losses in three straight and five of the last six games. Charlotte, which dropped the first three of a five-game road trip that concludes in Boston on Monday, is slumping badly at the defensive end with an average of 114.3 points allowed in the last six contests and is in danger of dropping to .500 for the first time in 2016-17.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Charlotte), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE HORNETS (20-19): One of the worst things for a struggling defense is a date with the Houston Rockets, and Charlotte quickly fell into a hole in the first half on Tuesday before rallying in the second half and ultimately falling short in a 121-114 loss. "In the second half, we ran back on defense and we did a better job rebounding," Hornets coach Steve Clifford told reporters. "It’s always going to come back to the basic principles. Those are things that until this year, we’ve been really good at and if we want to win, we’ll get back to that." Putting together a full 48 minutes has been an issue on the trip, and Charlotte rallied from a 19-point, fourth-quarter deficit only to suffer a 115-114 loss at Detroit to begin the trip, led at the half in San Antonio before falling 102-85 and overcame an 18-point deficit in Houston before running out of gas late.
ABOUT THE 76ERS (11-25): Philadelphia rallied from a 17-point deficit to win on Wednesday behind rookie center Joel Embiid, who continues to make history with his production in limited playing time. The 22-year-old Kansas product, who suggested earlier in the week that the 76ers were headed to the postseason and reiterated that claim after Wednesday's triumph, collected 21 points and 14 rebounds in 27 minutes against the Knicks to mark the seventh straight game in which he scored at least 20 points while logging 30 or fewer minutes. Embiid remains on a minutes restriction and is sitting out back-to-backs, which means he could miss either Friday's game or Saturday's clash at Washington.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Hornets SG Nicolas Batum (hyperextended right knee) sat out the last two games and is questionable for Friday.
2. 76ers PF Ersan Ilyasova is 6-of-29 from 3-point range over the last three games.
3. Charlotte earned a 109-93 home win over Philadelphia on Nov. 2, with Embiid sitting out.