The Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, 93 - 92, at Wells Fargo Center on Friday night. The Sixers (15 - 26) have shown notable improvement this season, in large part thanks to former first - round pick Joel Embiid finally being at full health. They entered Friday in the midst of their best stretch in years, as they'd secured victories in seven of their previous nine games. With a Trail Blazers (18 - 27) squad that had won only seven of 24 road games coming in to town, that streak had a chance to extend even further. However, after an opening 12 minutes that saw Portland ambush their hosts by a 33 - 22 margin, the Sixers were decidedly behind the proverbial eight - ball. In previous seasons, this obstacle would have been enough to put Philadelphia away for good. These seem to be different times, however, and the Sixers came roaring out of intermission to outscore their visitors, 27 - 15, in the third quarter. That set up a nip - and - tuck final period that saw the game come down to the final seconds, when Robert Covington made a 28 - foot three - point jumper with four ticks remaining to send the home team to their eighth win in the last 10 contests. The Trail Blazers were led by Damian Lillard's 30 points, which he supplemented with five rebounds, an assist and a steal. C.J. McCollum had a down game by his standards, posting a modest 16 points on 5 - of - 18 shooting. He added four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Mason Plumlee generated 14 - point, 11 - rebound double - double that also included two assists, three blocks and a steal. Noah Vonleh tallied 10 points, five rebounds and a steal. Al-Farouq Aminu went for a near double - double off the bench with nine points, nine boards, one assist and one steal. Ersan Ilyasova paced the Sixers with 24 points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. Covington totaled 22 points overall, along with six rebounds, a steal and a block. Embiid totaled an 18 - point, 10 - rebound double - double that also featured five assists and four blocks. However, he was forced from the game after 22 minutes with a left knee contusion. T.J. McConnell filled out the stat sheet with eight points, five assists and four rebounds. The Blazers head to Boston to take on the Celtics on Saturday afternoon, while the Sixers head down south to tangle with the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday evening.
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