Joel Embiid rallies 76ers past Nets 101-98

Joel Embiid scored 37 points and hit a pair of go-ahead free throws with 5.2 seconds remaining as the visiting Philadelphia 76ers rallied down the stretch for a 101-98 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday at New York.

The Sixers outscored the Nets 16-4 over the final 7:43 and beat Brooklyn for the third time in as many meetings when Spencer Dinwiddie's potentially game-tying 32-foot 3-point attempt was ruled on replay to be after the final buzzer.

Embiid saved the Sixers from a third loss in four games with a key rebound after hitting two clutch jumpers during the team's late go-ahead scoring run.

Cam Thomas' layup with 7:43 left opened a 94-85 lead for the Nets but the Sixers ripped off a 10-2 spurt to get within 96-95 on a 14-footer by Embiid with 3:56 remaining. Embiid answered Dinwiddie's dunk with a short jumper to make it 98-97 with 1:34 left but Brooklyn's James Harden missed a 3-point attempt nearly a minute later.

With 12.2 seconds left, Dinwiddie lost the ball out of bounds near the baseline.

The Sixers called their final timeout and ran a play for Harden, who missed a layup with 6.2 seconds left. Embiid grabbed the offensive rebound and hit two free throws for a 99-98 lead with 5.2 seconds left.

After a Brooklyn timeout, Bridges missed a contested layup with 2.4 seconds left and Harden sank two free throws with ninth-tenths of a second remaining for the final margin before Dinwiddie's near-miss.

Harden added 29 points in a hostile return to Brooklyn, getting booed every time he touched the ball after he was granted a trade from the Nets to the Sixers last year.

Mikal Bridges scored 23 points in his debut for the Nets after being obtained from the Phoenix Suns on Thursday for Kevin Durant. Joe Harris added 18 for the Nets, Thomas contributed 14 and Cameron Johnson chipped in 12 after being acquired with Bridges.

The Nets held a 60-52 lead by halftime and opened a 68-58 lead when Claxton sped by Embiid for a powerful dunk. They took a 74-62 edge on a jumper by Bridges with four minutes left and held an 82-76 lead heading into the fourth quarter.