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NBA highlights on Feb. 12: Embiid dominates Cavaliers at home
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Joel Embiid (#21) of the Philadelphia 76ers dunks in the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., February 12, 2022. /CFP

Joel Embiid (#21) of the Philadelphia 76ers dunks in the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., February 12, 2022. /CFP

The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-93 at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday to secure their second straight win.

Joel Embiid scored a triple-double of 40 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists while delivering three assists for the 76ers after going 4-5 from downtown and 14-15 at the free throw line. The opponents' two big men, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley couldn't even slow Embiid down a bit.

Allen is going to be on the poster of him being dunked over by Embiid at the end of the second quarter.

"It was crazy, it was cool," Embiid said. "I was finally able to make my dreams come true."

Matisse Thybulle (#22) of the Philadelphia 76ers steals the ball in the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., February 12, 2022. /CFP

Matisse Thybulle (#22) of the Philadelphia 76ers steals the ball in the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., February 12, 2022. /CFP

The 76ers' defense was as important as Embiid's offensive dominance for the victory on Saturday. They forced 15 turnovers by the Cavaliers while only allowing 15 free throws. The visiting team went poorly 8-24 at the 3-point line, below their season average in 3-pointer attempts, triples made and 3-point rate.

"The intensity at which you're going to have to play at in order to compete with teams like this," Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. " It was a clear message from the beginning of the game the intensity they were coming with. These are the tests we talk about and these are the lessons we have to learn. It's a matter of playing with force and playing with speed."

Darius Garland had team high 27 points for the Cavaliers, but he only delivered one assists at the cost of six turnovers. His struggling in orchestrating was partly why most of his team was underperforming offensively.

The top five rankings in the Eastern Conference remained close after Saturday's game at Wells Fargo Center. The fifth 76ers are only 2.5 games away from the leading Miami Heat.

Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors looks on in the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Chase Center in San Francisco, California, U.S., February 12, 2022. /CFP

Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors looks on in the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Chase Center in San Francisco, California, U.S., February 12, 2022. /CFP

Klay Thompson saves Warriors with Q4 explosion

The Golden State Warriors defeated the los Angeles Lakers 117-115 at Chase Center on Saturday, ending their two-game losing-streak.

Klay Thompson drained three triples to score 16 points for the Warriors in the last quarter, putting the team back on top 115-113 at 1:35. His performance reminded Warriors fans of the incredible Klay Thompson who made 11 triples to save the team in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2016.

While Klay Thompson was dominating the floor at Chase Center on Saturday night, his father Mychal Thompson was working on the Lakers radio broadcast.

Klay Thompson (#11) of the Golden State Warriors shoots in the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Chase Center in San Francisco, California, U.S., February 12, 2022. /CFP

Klay Thompson (#11) of the Golden State Warriors shoots in the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Chase Center in San Francisco, California, U.S., February 12, 2022. /CFP

"It meant something special to do it for my dad," Klay Thompson said. "I don't think he's seen me play for a few years. I know he was proud of me, and that's always fun."

"Just took over the game at a time when we desperately needed him." Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. "With our offense kind of struggling to find a groove he got hot and took over the game. Klay is special. It goes beyond making shots. He brings an electricity to the building that's hard to quantify."

The Lakers suffered their third straight loss on Saturday night. Compared with their Big Three of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook, the team's bench squad made better contributions to the purple and gold's rally after trailing 32-26 in the first quarter. Talen Horton-Tucker, Austin Reeves and Malik Monk combined 42 points, 13 rebounds and five triples off the bench.

LeBron James (#6) of the Los Angeles Lakers misses a free throw in the game against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center in San Francisco, California, U.S., February 12, 2022. /CFP

LeBron James (#6) of the Los Angeles Lakers misses a free throw in the game against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center in San Francisco, California, U.S., February 12, 2022. /CFP

LeBron James was 9-27 in field goals (FGs), including 1-10 in the last quarter to get 26 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. He also missed four free throws, including two that could have tied the score for the Lakers in the last two seconds. Davis made his presence felt on the defensive end with three blocks, but he missed seven of eight jumpers to score only 16 points.

Russell Westbrook, ironically, was the only one of the starting line to have a plus number (+2) of Plus/Minus on the floor with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Kyle Lowry (#7) of the Miami Heat steals the ball in the game against the Brooklyn Nets at FTX Arena in Miami, Florida, U.S., February 12, 2022. /CFP

Kyle Lowry (#7) of the Miami Heat steals the ball in the game against the Brooklyn Nets at FTX Arena in Miami, Florida, U.S., February 12, 2022. /CFP

Irving's late explosion fails to keep Nets from 11 consecutive losses

The Miami Heat defeated the Brooklyn Nets 115-111 at FTX Arena on Saturday, continuing to lead the East with a 37-20 record.

The Heat had seven players reach double-digit points though none of them got 20. Duncan Robinson became the only starter who scored behind the arc and he went 5-8 there. The Heat's advantage was built on their aggressive offense, which earned them 29 free throws.

The Heat built an early lead of 15 points after the first three quarters, but that might have made the team too comfortable before the game was a done deal. As a result, the Heat completely lost their target in jumpers (5-17) and defensive energy. On the other side of the court, Kyrie Irving went 6-9 in FGs, including making four triples to get 20 points in Q4. The Nets cut the deficit to as little as one point twice (110-109, 112-111) at the end of the game.

Kyrie Irving (#11) of the Brooklyn Nets shoots in the game against the Miami Heat at FTX Arena in Miami, Florida, U.S., February 12, 2022. /CFP

Kyrie Irving (#11) of the Brooklyn Nets shoots in the game against the Miami Heat at FTX Arena in Miami, Florida, U.S., February 12, 2022. /CFP

After Jimmy Butler missed his second free throw, the Nets were trailing 113-111 at 0:13. They tried to get the ball to Irving in the following possession, but Day'Ron Sharpe's pass was cut by Kyle Lowry. When the Nets finally managed to foul on P.J. Tucker, they knew it’s too late to save the game.

"I think that was what it was going to take, some random deflection," Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said of Lowry's last-moment steal. "It didn't go necessarily how we wanted it to in the fourth quarter. Particularly when we had the 20-point lead, we allowed them some life with some of our inefficient offense."

This was the Nets' 11th loss in a row. The good news for the team was that they traded Harden for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry and Andre Drummond, all thee of which could help remedy some of the team's defects. The bad news, however, was that Irving could only play none of the Nets' future 26 games under the current COVID-19 protocols in New York.

Other games on Saturday (away teams come first):

New York Knicks 103-112 Portland Trail Blazers

Memphis Grizzlies 125-118 Charlotte Hornets

Sacramento Kings 123-110 Washington Wizards

San Antonio Spurs 124-114 New Orleans Pelicans

Denver Nuggets 110-109 Toronto Raptors

Oklahoma City thunder 101-106 Chicago Bulls

Los Angeles Clippers 99-97 Dallas Mavericks

Orlando Magic 105-132 Phoenix Suns

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