Philadelphia 76ers wanted to avoid a losing streak going into the All-Star break, and they did that by beating the Milwaukee Bucks. Coming off a blowout defeat at the hands of Boston, Joel Embiid could not let his team drop another game.

Embiid had 42 points, 14 rebounds and five assists and the 76ers came out of a 15-point hole to claim a 123-120 win in Milwaukee. Both teams compete for the win until the end, but the 76ers came up to the top hitting big shots in the fourth quarter.

“It’s nice not going into the break with two losses, and obviously beating Milwaukee on the road adds to that. It’s nice to go to the break with a win,” Doc Rivers said in the post-game presser.

The next time the Sixers will get on the floor, they probably have James Harden alongside Embiid. However, Harden was able to help his teammates from the sideline on Thursday’s contest.

Tyrese Maxey finished the game with 19 points including 14 in the second half after Harden took the promising guard to the side. He did the same thing to Georges Niang during the game. Niang ended up pouring 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc.

“In the first quarter of the game, I was driving in the paint and lost the ball a couple of times. He caught me on the side and he was like ‘try to get up 10 threes that’s what you do’. I just looked at the stat sheet and I had 10 threes. Note to self, ‘take note from James Harden,’”, Niang said after the game.

Philadelphia took advantage of their ability to attack the paint. They scored 44 points, and they created many open looks in the perimeter during the second half. Rivers used Matisse Thybulle rarely through the second half, and allowed Furkan Korkmaz to play more minutes.

The Turkish forward stretched Milwaukee’s defense and allowed Embiid, Maxey and Tobias Harris to attack the paint. Korkmaz had 13 points on 3-of-4 shooting from deep.

After an important victory Thursday, the Sixers will look to climb at the top of the Eastern Conference in the remaining 20-25 games of the regular season.

‘The one thing the later All-Star break does, when you come out, it’s a sprint,” Rivers said.  ”It’s no longer the midway point, where you can ease back from the break. It’s a full sprint when you come back.”

The Sixers are third in the East going into the All-Star Weekend with a 35-23 record. They are just 2.5 games behind the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat, who are at the top of the Eastern Conference at 38-21.