PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid scored 44 points, James Harden had a career-high 21 assists in a triple-double and the Philadelphia 76ers overcame a 20-point first-half deficit to beat the LA Clippers 119-114 on Friday night.
Harden also had 20 points and 11 rebounds to help Philadelphia sweep a seven-game homestand and improve to 19-12. Harden tied Wilt Chamberlain and Maurice Cheeks for the franchise record for assists in a game and also joined Chamberlain (1968 against the Pistons) as the second player in 76ers history with 20 points and 20 assists in a contest. He is the first player with 20 points and 20 assists in a game this season.
“That’s some great company. Mo Cheeks was one of my coaches (in Oklahoma City), and then Wilt, I feel like he has every record,” Harden said. “So just being in the conversation with some of the best basketball players to ever touch a basketball is always a blessing.”
Harden’s previous career high for assists was 17, accomplished 10 times.
Eleven of Harden’s assists went to Embiid, tied for his most to a single player in any game in his career. Embiid and Harden are the third pair of teammates over the past 25 seasons to have one player go for 40 points and another go for 20 assists. They join Paul George and Russell Westbrook in 2018 and DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo in 2016.
Harden’s performance, approach to the game and the evolving chemistry between Embiid and Harden drew praise from the coach Doc Rivers.
“This is a generational scorer that has taken and decided to be a point guard, who still scores, but to be a point guard for this team,” Rivers said. “That’s hard to do. A lot of people, most people, can’t do that, or will not do it is a better way of saying it. The fact that he is willingly doing it, running the team, organizing us, is huge for us.”
Describing the 76ers’ comeback, Embiid said, “That’s big-time for us. That just shows that we stayed together, we trust each other, and we know what we have to do.
“We started off the game soft, especially defensively, and as soon as we turned it up it changed the whole game.”
Rivers took a timeout after Nicolas Batum‘s 3-pointer gave the Clippers a 108-107 lead with four minutes left. The 76ers then had a 10-0 run.
Kawhi Leonard had 28 points on 12-of-19 shooting for Los Angeles. Paul George added 22 points and Norman Powell had 21. The 76ers limited George to five points in the second half, led by a standout performance from De’Anthony Melton.
“We knew how good of an offensive team they were,” Harden said. “They caught us in that first half. The second half we picked up our defensive intensity, got out in transition and it made the game a lot easier for us.”
Before the game, Rivers said Tyrese Maxey is getting close to returning from a fracture in his left foot that has kept him out since Nov. 18.
ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.