Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid on Monday was ejected after confronting a female referee in the 76ers’ 111-106 victory over San Antonio in a wild night of NBA action.
An expected big-man showdown between Cameroonian Embiid and France’s Victor Wembanyama ended late in the first half, leaving Tyrese Maxey to produce 32 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in sparking the win.
“It’s big time,” Maxey said of getting the win for Embiid. “We’re learning to play without him... We’ve got to change the game, come a little faster, play a little harder and gain rebounds.”
Photo: AP
Embiid came onto the court after the game and hugged Maxey after the guard’s late surge with a steal, dunk, three-pointer and free throw in a game-ending 9-3 run to deliver the home triumph.
“It’s love, man,” Maxey said. “That has been my big brother for a long time.”
Chaos started 3 minutes, 47 seconds into the second period when Wembanyama tumbled to the court after contact with Philadelphia’s Andre Drummond, who was ejected for a second technical foul. It was later overturned upon a video review to a “Wemby” flop foul, allowing Drummond back into the game.
Photo: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
Embiid was whistled for his third foul by referee Jenna Schroeder after charging into Wembanyama with 2:59 remaining in the first half and, after heated complaints to her, Embiid was issued two technical fouls and ejected.
That sparked even more ire from Embiid, who ripped off the facial protective mask he wore for a sinus fracture and yelled his displeasure while being physically restrained from confronting the officials. He exited after only nine points in 14 minutes.
“It was a wild first half,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said.
NBA blocked shots leader Wembanyama finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and eight blocked shots for the Spurs. He swatted away four in the first quarter, three in its final 30 seconds, on his way to a career-best seven in the first half.
An injury-hit Orlando Magic squad stunned reigning NBA champion the Boston Celtics 108-104, with German Tristan da Silva’s 18 points leading a balanced attack for the hosts to pull off the upset despite 35 points for Boston by Jaylen Brown.
“This one’s for Mo,” said Orlando’s Johnathan Isaac, paying tribute to missing center Mo Wagner, who suffered a season-ending knee injury on Saturday.
NBA leaders Cleveland improved to 26-4, matching the best 30-game start in club history, with a 124-113 home victory over Utah.
The Cavs, on a five-game winning streak, improved to 16-1 at home as Darius Garland had 23 points, while Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley each added 22.
Host Oklahoma City’s winning streak stretched to eight games with a 123-105 victory over NBA-worst Washington.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Western Conference-best Thunder (23-5) with 41 points.
A week before his 40th birthday, LeBron James delivered his 120th career triple-double with 28 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, but he missed a three-pointer at the final buzzer and the Los Angeles Lakers lost to visiting Detroit 117-114.
In New York, Karl-Anthony Towns and O.G. Anunoby each scored 31 points to lead hosts the Knicks over Toronto 139-125.
With NBA scoring leader Giannis Antetokounmpo out with back spasms and Damian Lillard sidelined by illness, the Milwaukee Bucks won 112-91 at Chicago behind 21 points each by Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez.
Houston’s Jabari Smith scored 21 points and Fred VanVleet added 20 to lead the Rockets over hosts Charlotte 114-101.
Trae Young scored 29 points to lead host Atlanta over Minnesota 117-104, while Bam Adebayo scored 23 points to lead the Miami Heat in a 110-95 home triumph over Brooklyn.
Norman Powell scored 29 points to lead the visiting Los Angeles Clippers to a 114-110 victory at Memphis.
Powell sank a jumper and made two free throws in the final 25 seconds to deliver the triumph.
Luka Doncic scored 27 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks over visiting Portland 132-108, while Nikola Jokic had 32 points to power the Denver Nuggets over visiting Phoenix 117-90.
In San Francisco, Indiana’s Myles Turner scored 23 points to spark the Pacers over Golden State 111-105, stretching their winning streak to five games.
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Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
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