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Embiid gives 76ers series lead over Hawks

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Ben Simmons (l) had 18 points for Philadelphia in the 76ers' 127-111 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
Camera IconBen Simmons (l) had 18 points for Philadelphia in the 76ers' 127-111 win over the Atlanta Hawks. Credit: AP

Joel Embiid set aside his injury concerns to lead Philadelphia to a convincing 127-111 win over Atlanta that earned the 76ers a 2-1 NBA series lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal.

Embiid, playing with a cartilage tear in his right knee, scored 27 points while adding nine rebounds, eight assists and three blocked shots.

"I'm OK," Embiid said. "I'm standing up. I'm walking. I finished the game. So I'm gonna keep getting back up. I'm going to keep fighting. That's been me since I've been playing basketball. ... Whatever happens, get back up and keep it going."

Tobias Harris had 22 points while Australian Ben Simmons contributed 18, to go with seven assists, to help the 76ers end Atlanta's streak of 13 home wins.

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The 76ers, who took the series lead with back-to-back wins, played to their No.1 seeding.

They established a lead of 22 points and kept the advantage in double figures for most of the second half. The Hawks played from behind after their last lead at 11-10.

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Trae Young led Atlanta with 28 points, while John Collins and Bogdan Bogdanovic contributed 23 and 10 points respectively.

Game 4 is Monday night in Atlanta.

After leading 65-60 early in the third period, Philadelphia took command with an 11-0 run. The 76ers outscored the Hawks 34-19 in the third period.

Simmons had two baskets during the run, including a jam for a 76-60 lead.

"I was just trying to push the pace and get in the lane, stay aggressive and get to the rim, get into a rhythm," Simmons said. "I think I did a good job of that in the second half."

Atlanta couldn't regain the momentum as the 76ers stretched the lead to 20 points, 93-73, late in the period.

Embiid, who faced constant double-teams from Atlanta's defence, made 12 of 16 free throws.

Embiid had a scare in the third quarter when he limped and appeared to be in pain after grabbing a rebound. He appeared to step awkwardly on Clint Capela's foot but he remained in the game.

Hawks coach Nate McMillan asked for a strong start that eluded his team in their Game 2 loss. Instead, Philadelphia relied on an unlikely scoring source to grab the early lead.

Furkan Korkmaz, who scored a combined seven points in the first two games of the series, scored 11 points in the opening period while making two threes. He added another three in the fourth for 14 points.

The 76ers stretched the advantage to 11 points in the second period before settling for a 61-56 halftime lead.

Meanwhile, the visiting Phoenix beat Denver 116-102 to take a 3-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.

The Suns have won six contest playoff games and are one win from advancing to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2009-10 - the last season in which they made the playoffs before this year.

They will seek a sweep of the best-of-seven series against the Nuggets on Sunday in Denver.

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