Embiid, Maxey both score 32 to lead 76ers past Jazz 114-111

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey each scored 32 points to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 114-111 victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.

Embiid went 11 of 13 from the free-throw line to rally the 76ers from a 14-point first-half deficit for their ninth victory in 12 games. Paul George had a season-high five steals to go along with 13 points.

Utah trailed by 11 early in the second half before rallying, but the 76ers took a 110-108 lead with 1:38 left on back-to-back baskets from Maxey and Embiid. Lauri Markkanen cut the deficit to 112-111 on a 3-pointer with 4.1 seconds remaining, but Maxey sealed the win with two free throws.

Markkanen led the Jazz with 23 points. Collin Sexton and Brice Sensabaugh added 20 apiece.

Utah shot 54% from the field in the first quarter and led 42-28 early in the second following back-to-back layups from Sexton and Sensabaugh. Philadelphia erased the deficit before halftime behind a 24-5 run spanning six minutes, taking a 52-47 lead when Embiid punctuated the run with a pair of baskets.

Sixers: Attacking the rim and drawing fouls paid off for Philadelphia. The 76ers went 29 of 37 from the free-throw line.

Jazz: Turnovers undermined Utah’s offense at many critical junctures. The Jazz committed 22 turnovers, leading to 22 points for the 76ers.

Sensabaugh keyed a 10-3 run with a pull-up 3-pointer to help Utah carve out a 101-95 lead midway through the fourth. Embiid scored back-to-back hook shots to cut it to one and Maxey scored a go-ahead 3 less than two minutes later.

Utah scored two baskets in the final 4:35.

The 76ers continue a six-game trip at Portland on Monday, the same day the Jazz host Denver.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) looks to shoots over Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Egan)

Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George (8) breaks for the basket as Utah Jazz forward Cody Williams (5) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Egan)

Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) jockeys for position with Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Egan)

Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) goes to the hoop as Utah Jazz forward Kyle Filipowski defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Egan)

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) shoots over Utah Jazz forward Kyle Filipowski (22) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Egan)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Nationwide protests challenging Iran's theocracy saw protesters flood the streets in the country's capital and its second-largest city into Sunday, crossing the two-week mark as violence surrounding the demonstrations has killed at least 116 people, activists said.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. But the death toll in the protests has grown, while 2,600 others have been detained, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

Those abroad fear the information blackout will embolden hard-liners within Iran's security services to launch a bloody crackdown, despite warnings from U.S. President Donald Trump he's willing to strike the Islamic Republic to protect peaceful demonstrators.

Trump offered support for the protesters, saying on social media that “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!” The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous U.S. officials, said on Saturday night that Trump had been given military options for a strike on Iran, but hadn’t made a final decision.

The State Department separately warned: “Do not play games with President Trump. When he says he’ll do something, he means it.”

Online videos sent out of Iran, likely using Starlink satellite transmitters, purportedly showed demonstrators gathering in northern Tehran's Punak neighborhood. There, it appeared authorities shut off streets, with protesters waving their lit mobile phones. Others banged metal while fireworks went off.

Other footage purportedly showed demonstrators peacefully marching down a street and others honking their car horns on the street.

In Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city, some 725 kilometers (450 miles) northeast of Tehran, footage purported to show protesters confronting security forces. Flaming debris and dumpsters could be seen in the street, blocking the road. Mashhad is home to the Imam Reza shrine, the holiest in Shiite Islam, making the protests there carry heavy significance for the country's theocracy.

Protests also appeared to happen in Kerman, 800 kilometers (500 miles) southeast of Tehran.

Iranian state television on Sunday morning took a page from demonstrators, having their correspondents appear on streets in several cities to show calm areas with a date stamp shown on screen. Tehran and Mashhad were not included. They also showed pro-government demonstrations in Qom and Qazvin.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signaled a coming clampdown, despite U.S. warnings. Tehran escalated its threats Saturday, with Iran’s attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, warning that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a death-penalty charge. The statement carried by Iranian state television said even those who “helped rioters” would face the charge.

Iran’s theocracy cut off the nation from the internet and international telephone calls on Thursday, though it allowed some state-owned and semiofficial media to publish. Qatar’s state-funded Al Jazeera news network reported live from Iran, but they appeared to be the only major foreign outlet able to work.

Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who called for protests Thursday and Friday, asked in his latest message for demonstrators to take to the streets Saturday and Sunday. He urged protesters to carry Iran’s old lion-and-sun flag and other national symbols used during the time of the shah to “claim public spaces as your own.”

Pahlavi’s support of and from Israel has drawn criticism in the past — particularly after the 12-day war. Demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some protests, but it isn’t clear whether that’s support for Pahlavi himself or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media shows protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire as they take to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media shows protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire as they take to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)