PHILADELPHIA-Robert Covington scored on a lob from Dario Saric with 0.2 of a second left as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 93-91 on Tuesday night.
Ricky Rubio's 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds left allowed Minnesota, which trailed by 26 in the third quarter, to forge a 91-all tie.
Covington then rubbed Andrew Wiggins off Joel Embiid's screen, took the long sideline inbounds pass from Saric near the rim and dropped the ball in.
Embiid scored 25 points and Ersan Ilyasova added 19 for the 76ers, who won their second straight. Covington contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds as Philadelphia shot 38.8 percent.
Zach LaVine scored 28 points and Karl-Anthony Towns collected 23 points, 15 rebounds and five assists for Minnesota, which recorded a 24-point home win over the Sixers on Nov. 17.
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Wiggins, who began the night averaging a team-high 22 points a game, managed eight on 2-for-15 shooting.
The Sixers breezed to a 19-point lead late in the second quarter and were up 57-42 at the break. Embiid provided 16 points in the half, and Philadelphia limited Minnesota to 37.8-percent shooting.
LaVine scored 11 in the half to pace the T-wolves.
Philadelphia then scored the first 11 points of the second half, six by Ilyasova on a pair of 3-pointers and five by Embiid, to go up 68-42.
With the Sixers' lead still 26 moments later, the T-wolves rattled off 15 straight points, 12 by LaVine, to cut the gap to 70-59.
Philadelphia's lead was still 11 at the end of the quarter, 79-68. Philadelphia held an 82-70 lead early in the fourth but the Wolves used an 18-9 run before Rubio's tying shot.
NOTES: Philadelphia C Joel Embiid was named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for games played in December, the second straight month he received that honor. Embiid averaged 20 points and seven rebounds while playing 27.3 minutes a game in 10 appearances. ... The Sixers were without F Richaun Holmes (concussion) for the fifth straight game, while G Gerald Henderson (hip) missed his third consecutive contest and G Sergio Rodriguez (ankle) his second in a row. Holmes and Rodriguez both said they hope to be available for Friday's game in Boston. ... Minnesota C Karl-Anthony Towns entered the game shooting 23.2 percent on 3-pointers in his previous 19 games, and 31.8 percent overall. "I don't want him to settle all the time for the 3," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "I think it's important to have a balance, and that's usually when he's at his best."
