Joel Embiid Hailed By Fans for 10,000 Points as 76ers Beat Donovan Mitchell, Cavs

The Philadelphia 76ers are headed into All-Star Weekend with plenty of momentum.

Philadelphia defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 118-112 in Wednesday's potential Eastern Conference playoff preview at Wells Fargo Center and improved to 38-19 with a fourth victory in a row. The Cavaliers fell to 38-23 and saw their own seven-game winning streak come to an end.

Joel Embiid (29 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block) and James Harden (19 points and 12 assists) led the way with double-doubles, and the big man made some history in the process by becoming the fastest players in franchise history to reach 10,000 points.

The accomplishment drew plenty of reaction on social media:

Philadelphia wasted no time setting the tone and seizing momentum, building a 25-point halftime lead in front of the home fans. Embiid controlled the boards, while Harden established the pace with his ball-handling all while he found his stroke from deep and consistently facilitated for others.

It seemed like the 76ers would encounter little resistance, but they took their foot off the proverbial gas and allowed Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland to gradually cut into the lead.

Tyrese Maxey's triple in the final seconds of the third quarter temporarily helped stem some of Cleveland's momentum, but the visitors still pulled within single digits in the final minutes as Mitchell was so dialed in he even banked home a three-pointer.

Fortunately for Philadelphia, Embiid and clutch free-throw shooting was too much for the Cavaliers to overcome.

The two sides face each other just one more time this season, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see a playoff matchup given how well they are playing heading into All-Star Weekend.