Camera IconJoel Embiid produced one of the best games of his NBA career as Philadelphia beat Miami in overtime.
Embiid rallies Sixers to NBA overtime win
Ben Simmons made his return after a knee injury but Joel Embiid earned all the plaudits in Philadelphia's NBA overtime win against Miami.
Simmons fouled out after scoring five points and 12 assists in the 76ers' 137-134 win as controversy continued over the Australian's absence during his team's defeat to Atlanta 24 hours earlier.
Coach Doc Rivers said Simmons had to be summoned back to New York after he tried to return to Philadelphia following their game against Brooklyn last week.
The Sixers needed to stay an extra day for additional COVID-19 testing after Seth Curry's coronavirus diagnosis.
"Obviously, that night we were all in disarray, a bunch of guys were ordering cars, because we all did think we could go back home," Rivers said.
"Ben was on his way, I called him and told him he couldn't because of league protocols, and he just turned around and came back."
The Sixers were fined $US25,000 ($32,000) for not listing Simmons on their injury report for the Atlanta clash.
While Simmons was quiet against the Heat, Embiid had one of the great games of his career and carried the Sixers with a perfect third quarter and clutch buckets in overtime.
In other games, Kevin Durant had 34 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds, Bruce Brown made a huge contribution while starting for the absent Kyrie Irving as Brooklyn rallied from 18 down to beat Denver 122-116.
LeBron James scored 26 points in just more than three quarters and Los Angeles never trailed as they routed Houston 117-100.
Los Angeles led by 20 or more for most of the game on a night James Harden made just 5 of 16 shots and the Rockets were out-rebounded 55-42.
Patty Mills had 17 points in his 25 minutes as the San Antonio Spurs finished a five-game trip with four wins after defeating Oklahoma City 112-102.
The Spurs committed a season-low four turnovers as they celebrated their 2200th win since joining the NBA in 1976.
Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points for Utah to roll over the injury-depleted Cleveland, wrapping up their six-game road trip with a 117-87 win.
In the final match of the day, the Indiana Pacers had Myles Turner to thank for a third 3-pointer late in the game as they went on to defeat the Golden State Warriors 104-95 in San Francisco.
Playing the second night of a back-to-back set, Indiana snapped a two-game losing streak by outfinishing the Warriors in a fourth quarter that featured six ties and three lead changes.
Turner had 22 points as Indiana kept star Steph Curry in check by regularly playing him with a tough box-and-1 defence, though the two-time MVP still created his chances before finishing with 20 points.