By Tommy Matthews
Joel Embiid’s 37 points and 13 rebounds and James Harden’s 29 points in his first game in Brooklyn since being traded a year ago led the Sixers to a 101-98 win at Brooklyn.
The Nets’ Spencer Dinwiddie’s 3-pointer would have sent it into OT but it was ruled too late after a video review.
Harden added six rebounds and six assists after being booed in introductions and then early in the game.
He arrived in January 2021 to play with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, then asked out and was gone just 13 months later, swapped in a deal for Ben Simmons at last year’s trade deadline.
“I don’t get caught up in homecomings or the outside distractions,” Harden said. “I think our focus was just to come here and win a game and we did a good job of that tonight.”
Mikal Bridges scored 23 points in his first game with the Nets, but missed a layup that would have given the Nets the lead with about 2 seconds left. Harden then made two free throws with 0.9 seconds to go, and Dinwiddie’s shot after a timeout was too late.
