By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia 76ers (12-25) moved to 5-1 in the month of January, defeating the Charlotte Hornets (20-20) tonight, 102-93. The Sixers have now won three in a row for the first time since December 29, 2013-January 4 2014 while also winning five of their last six overall, something they haven't done in five years.
Joel Embiid posted another 20+ point effort, finishing the game with 24 points (6-12 FG) to go along with eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals. He was a team leading +23 on the night as well. Dario Saric had a strong game off the bench, contributing with 15 points, six rebounds and two assists.
Philadelphia led by five after one and maintained a 52-45 lead going into the half. After the Hornets tied the game at 52, the Sixers went on a 12-0 spurt to take a 64-52 lead. They wouldn't look back from there. Charlotte cut the deficit to five after three quarters, but the Sixers scored the first seven points of the fourth, taking an 80-71 lead with just under 11 minutes to play in the game. Cody Zeller hit a pair of free throws to bring the game to within six, 97-91, with 1:27 to go, but a TJ McConnell bucket and two free throws from Joel Embiid extended the advantage to 10 with 44 seconds to go.
The Sixers, as a whole, shot 47.4 percent from the floor and hit 16 of 20 from the line. Philadelphia's defense held Charlotte to 32.9 percent shooting and 26.1 from beyond the arc. The Hornets did shoot over 96 percent from the line, sinking 31 of 32 free throws. In terms of team stats, the Hornets outrebounded the Sixers 41-38, but the Sixers led in assists 26-11, points off turnovers 22-20 and fast break points 17-12.
Philadelphia is back in action tomorrow night in Washington as they look for their fourth straight win and sixth of 2017. Joel Embiid will not play, since it's a back-to-back, so Jahlil Okafor will see game action for the first time since the end of the teams' road trip out west at the end of 2016.
A win means it's time to clap your hands for the Sixers!
