Sixers outlast Hornets in overtime and end five-game losing streak

PHILADELPHIA -- At least with rock bottom, there’s a finality when things could not possibly get worse.

For the 76ers? They knew things would get better with improved health and more time on the court together.

They benefited from the latter Sunday night in a 107-105 overtime victory over the Charlotte Hornets at the Wells Fargo Center.

The already undermanned Sixers won this game even though Paul George, who’s on a minutes restriction, sat out the entire extra session.

However, the game almost ended with controversy. With the Sixers up 105-104, Jared McCain was set to step to the foul line with 16.3 seconds left in overtime after being fouled by the Hornets’ LaMelo Ball.

But the Hornets challenged the call, and the official ruled that Ball made contact with the basketball instead of fouling McCain. So there was a jump ball that was won by the Hornets. Charlotte then called consecutive timeouts to set up plays. After the second one, the Hornets’ Seth Curry was called for a foul underneath the Hornets basket.

That put the Sixers’ Gerschon Yabusele at the foul line with 5 seconds remaining. He finished with 20 points, but he missed both free throws. But Caleb Martin grabbed the rebound and was fouled.

The forward hit a pair of foul shots to give the Sixers a 107-104 lead with 2.1 seconds to play.

The victory improved the Sixers to 2-7 and snapped a five-game losing streak. They no longer have sole possession of last place in the NBA, which now belongs to the 2-8 Milwaukee Bucks. The Sixers will get another lift when Joel Embiid makes his season debut in Tuesday’s NBA Cup game against the New York Knicks at the Wells Fargo Center.

The 2023 league MVP missed the preseason and the first six games for what the team called left knee injury management. Then he was suspended the last three games for shoving Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes in a locker room altercation.

In addition to Embiid, the Sixers were also without All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey, who’s dealing with a strained right hamstring.

McCain, a rookie guard, scored 11 of his career-high 27 points in the fourth quarter. George finished with 15 points, a season-high nine assists, two steals, and four turnovers in 33:14 of action. This was the All-Star forward’s fourth game after being sidelined at the start of the season with a bone bruise in his left knee. Andre Drummond added 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Martin had five points, five rebounds, three assists, and a career-high four steals.

Ball scored 16 of his career-high 38 points in the fourth quarter.

The Sixers had a little scare early in the game.

George appeared to be hit in the face point-blank with the basketball while trying to defend a pass. The forward fell to the floor, resting on his back there for several minutes. After being helped up, he walked to the bench during the timeout before returning to the game.