Joel Embiid on Wednesday night was inches away from sinking one of the more impressive shots in basketball history.
With the Suns leading the 76ers by three with 0.8 seconds remaining in regulation, Chris Paul stepped to the free-throw line with a chance to ice the game. After knocking down the first, Paul missed his second shot from the charity stripe, opening the door for a potential game-tying desperation heave as time expired.
Embiid pulled down the rebound and in one motion launched the basketball 67 feet the other way. After hitting the backboard, the basketball circled around the rim before jumping out, sealing a win for Phoenix and prompting the Philadelphia big man to crumble to the floor over the narrow miss.
Embiid posted a game-high 38 points to go along with 17 rebounds.
Following Wednesday’s loss, Philadelphia now owns only a half-game lead for first place in the Eastern Conference standings. And to make matters worse for the 76ers, they’re set to play two consecutive games in Milwaukee against the third-seeded Bucks, the first of which set for Thursday.
