Stars lead the way as Sixers, Hawks end skid

Joel Embiid had 31 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists and hit a key jumper late to help the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Houston Rockets 118-113.

Seth Curry scored 25 points and Tobias Harris added 24 for the Eastern Conference-leading 76ers, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Ben Simmons (illness) didn’t play for the 76ers a game after scoring a career-high 42 points.

John Wall scored 28 points for the short-handed Rockets. Houston, playing without injured starters P.J. Tucker and Victor Oladipo, have lost seven in a row. DeMarcus Cousins and Jae’Sean Tate had 19 points each and Eric Gordon contributed 17.

In Boston, Trae Young had 40 points and eight assists, and the Atlanta Hawks snapped a four-game losing streak with a 122-114 victory over the Celtics.

Clint Capela finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds to help Atlanta earn its first victory over Boston in seven tries. John Collins added 20 points and six rebounds.

The Hawks, who shot a season-high 57% from the field, took a 90-81 lead into the fourth quarter. Boston rallied to cut it to 94-91, but Atlanta responded with an 8-2 run get it back up to 102-93 with 6:33 left.

Jayson Tatum had 35 points for Celtics, who have lost five out of seven.

Terrence Ross scored 18 of his season-high 30 points in the second half, and the Orlando Magic used a decisive third-quarter run to beat the New York Knicks 107-89.

Orlando went on a 25-8 run over the final nine minutes of the third quarter and outscored New York 30-14 in the period to wipe out a three-point halftime deficit. The Knicks had their season-best three-game winning streak snapped.

“It was a good team effort, especially since the Knicks have been playing well for the last seven games,” Ross said.

“Julius (Randle) has been on a roll and is having a great year. We had to dig deep and figure out how to slow him down.” (AP)