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Embiid has 41 points, 20 rebounds as Sixers down Pacers
PHILADELPHIA - Joel Embiid made his closing argument for MVP votes and improved his chances of winning the NBA scoring title, scoring 41 points while collecting 20 rebounds and dishing out four assists to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 133-120 victory Saturday over the Indiana Pacers.Embiid shot 14 for 17 from the floor, went 11 of 15 from the foul line and made both his 3-point attempts in a game that Philadelphia (50-31) needed to win to remain alive in the hunt for the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.James Harden had 22 points and 14 assists for Philadelphia, who also got double-digit point performances from Tobias Harris (18), Tyrese Maxey (18) and Danny Green (15).Oshae Brissett scored 20 points and Tyrese Haliburton had 19 for Indiana (25-56), which lost its ninth straight game. The Pacers fell behind by 21 points in the first half, then cut the deficit to five late in the third quarter before Embiid and Harden began to take control of the game.Embiid entered Saturday as the leader in the NBA scoring title race with a 30.4 points-per-game average, ahead of Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo at 29.9 points a game.