Sports
Sharpshooting Joel Embiid carries surging 76ers past Suns
Feb 7, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) drives around Philadelphia 76ers guard Vj Edgecombe (77) during the first half of an NBA game at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images Joel Embiid scored 33 points and made a season-high four 3-pointers, Tyrese Maxey added 29 points and the Philadelphia 76ers built a 19-point lead and held off the host Phoenix Suns 109-103 on Saturday.
Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 18 points and added three 3-pointers for the 76ers, who have won six of seven games and improved to 3-1 on a five-game road trip that concludes Monday in Portland.
Dillon Brooks scored 28 points, Devin Booker had 21 points and nine assists in his return from a seven-game absence, and Royce O’Neale had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Suns, who have lost three of four and three straight home games.
The 76ers built a 66-47 lead on Embiid’s three-point play early in the third quarter and led 87-71 three minutes into the fourth before the Suns came back.
Brooks’ three-point play brought the Suns with six at 101-95 with 1:31 left and Booker made two free throws to cut the deficit to 101-97.
Booker countered a Maxey 3-pointer with three free throws to keep the Sixers’ lead at four, 104-100, before Maxey made all three free throws for a 107-100 lead with 17.6 left.
Booker made three free throws of his own to make it 107-103 but Maxey made two for a 109-103 lead with 11.8 seconds left before the Suns turned the ball over on an inbounds play.
Embiid was 4 of 7 from 3-point range and made 11 of 13 free throws.
The Suns made 11 of 46 3-pointers, including one of their first 19. Brooks and Collin Gillespie were each 2 of 10 from distance.
Embiid had nine rebounds and the 76ers had a 50-40 rebounding edge, the fourth straight game in which the Suns have been out-rebounded.
Mark Williams added 11 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
Philadelphia gained a split of the season series and is 15-9 on the road. Only Oklahoma City has fewer road losses, seven.
Embiid and Maxey had eight points and two 3-pointers apiece when the 76ers took a 24-22 lead after the first quarter. Maxey scored six points and Oubre and Quentin Grimes had five apiece on a 17-2 run for a 44-28 lead.
Embiid’s third 3-pointer of the first half helped the 76ers’ to a 58-47 halftime lead. The Suns closed to 81-71 after three quarters.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Hornets perform in the clutch vs. Hawks to win ninth in a row
Feb 7, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) shoots over Charlotte Hornets guard Sion James (4) in the second quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Moussa Diabate scored six straight fourth-quarter points, including a pair of thunderous dunks, to spark the visiting Charlotte Hornets to their ninth straight victory, a 126-119 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.
Trailing 110-109 with 6:31 remaining, Diabate made two free throws and threw down back-to-back slams to give Charlotte a five-point lead. Atlanta could never catch up but had a chance to tie the game with 15 seconds when Nickeil Alexander-Walker missed a 3-pointer.
The Hornets were led by Miles Bridges with 26 points and Kon Knueppel with 23 points, including six 3-pointers, and eight rebounds. LaMelo Ball added 19 points and nine assists. Diabate finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds.
Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson finished with 31 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Zaccharie Risacher scored 18 and Onyeka Okongwu, who returned from missing four games with a facial fracture, had 16 points and seven rebounds.
The Hornets matched their longest winning streak since winning nine straight during the 1998-89 season.
Atlanta led by nine points with 2:42 left the first quarter, but the Hornets cut the lead to 35-32 by the end of the quarter. Charlotte tied the game on a three-point play by Ball at 11:21, setting off a back-and-forth period that ended with the game tied 60-60 at halftime. There were 13 lead changes and four ties in the first half.
The Hornets, behind nine points from Ball, scored the final 11 points of the third quarter and took a 98-90 lead into the final period. A 3-pointer by Ball gave Charlotte a 101-92 lead, but Atlanta went on a 16-4 run to take a 108-105 lead on a 3-pointer by Risacher with 7:55 left.
The Hornets now lead the season series 2-1 and ended a three-game losing streak in Atlanta. The teams meet for the final time on Wednesday in Charlotte.
Atlanta’s newly acquired Buddy Hield and Gabe Vincent were available but did not play. The team said Jonathan Kuminga, the other player who came over in the trade, will be out until the All-Star break with a left knee bone bruise.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Ebuka Okorie explodes as Stanford snaps 5-game skid vs. Georgia Tech
Feb 7, 2026; Stanford, California, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets guard Akai Fleming (0) defends Stanford Cardinal guard Ebuka Okorie (1) during the first half at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-Imagn Images Ebuka Okorie led Stanford with a career-high 40 points as the Cardinal got back into the win column with a 95-72 win against visiting Georgia Tech on Saturday.
Okorie was 12-for-21 from the floor, 3-of-6 from 3-point range and made all 13 of his free throws. He added five rebounds, four assists, and four steals to his tally for the evening.
Jeremy Dent-Smith added 16 points, and Ryan Agarwal had a team-high nine rebounds for the Cardinal (15-9, 4-7 Atlantic Coast Conference), who had previously lost five straight games.
Akai Fleming posted 19 points and went 2-for-3 from beyond the arc and Baye Ndongo added 14 points for the Yellow Jackets (11-13, 2-9), who have lost five straight.
Georgia Tech leading scorer Kowacie Reeves (15.0 points per game) was sidelined with an illness which also limited him to six minutes in Wednesday’s loss at Cal.
Stanford shot 54.1% from the floor for the game and made 63% of its shots over the final 20 minutes. The Yellow Jackets, conversely, shot 43.1% in the game but only made 35.3% of its second-half shots.
Both teams exchanged small leads to start the game, but Stanford’s 8-0 run made it 17-9 with 13:15 remaining in the first half.
Georgia Tech used a 7-0 charge to take a 20-19 lead on a 3-pointer by Kam Craft.
After trading the lead for a few minutes, Stanford went on a 14-2 run to take a 35-24 lead with 5:21 left. The Yellow Jackets trimmed the gap with a 9-0 run, but the Cardinal took a 43-39 lead into halftime.
Stanford used a 9-0 run capped by four straight points from Okorie to take its largest lead, 56-43, with 16:01 left.
The Yellow Jackets cut the deficit to as little as five, but the Cardinal never let it get closer than that. Stanford closed the game on a 22-7 run to convert an eight-point lead with 6:44 left into a comfortable 23-point victory.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Caleb Wilson and Cameron Boozer Shine in a Historic UNC vs Duke Meeting
Feb 7, 2026; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels forward Caleb Wilson (8) with the ball as Duke Blue Devils forward Cameron Boozer (12) defends in the first half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images North Carolina came from behind to shock Duke in a 71-68 instant classic. The best rivalry in college hoops was given another all-time game from two of the best blue bloods in the sport.
Duke was in complete control of this game for 39 minutes, then UNC’s role players got hot. The Tar Heels’ largest lead of the game occurred with 0.4 seconds remaining when Seth Trimble hit a massive corner three to give UNC its first lead of the second half.
This game will be remembered by Trimble’s game-winner, but NBA scouts will leave very impressed with what they saw from Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson. For most of the night, it felt like an 80’s basketball game, with Boozer and Wilson battling it out on the low post.
With Wilson, it felt like his team was going to let him down after a hyper-efficient 23-point performance. For most of the night, Duke just seemed to be in control. Freshman, Dame Sarr was tasked with his highest minutes load of the season, and he looked very comfortable next to Boozer.
Speaking of Boozer, some of my biggest concerns with him at the next level popped up tonight. He’s clearly been the best player in the country, and he put up another impressive stat line tonight, but I’m not sure if he plays a style of basketball that will translate to the pros. He plays a bully-ball style of offense, and pairs that with a finishing package that doesn’t seem worth a top-three pick.
When matched up against his former AAU teammate, Caleb Wilson, it seemed like he had such limited scoring options, whereas Wilson looked like a fluid NBA-level big. Wilson’s jumper leaves a lot to be desired; there’s a reason he only shoots 1 three a game; however, it’s mechanically very sound. He also looks incredibly comfortable from the mid-post, and he has a turnaround jumper that would be hard to guard at any level.
If Cam Boozer isn’t the clear-cut best player on the floor, his game feels too robotic for my liking. Late in this game, when the ball was in his hands, his only move was a straight line drive to the basket.
When you’re meeting Wilson and Henri Veesar in the paint, and you’re not finishing through their contact, life’s going to be very challenging. It’s a problem he will have to deal with every night in the NBA, and I just don’t love that skill set translating as easily as Wilson’s will to the NBA.
I’m not worried about Duke in the long run. They’re still so defensively strong, and should have better showings in future games for Isaiah Evans and Patrick Ngongba II. These two teams have a rematch in one month at Cameron Indoor, and I believe Duke will be able to bounce back in a massive way to close out the season.
Hornets perform in the clutch vs. Hawks to win ninth in a row
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