CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Joel Embiid had 33 points to extend his franchise-record run of 30 or more to 20 games and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Charlotte Hornets 97-89 on Saturday night for their fifth straight victory.

The reigning Kia NBA MVP Embiid also had 10 rebounds. He was 11-for-23 from the field and was 11-for-12 on free throws.

Embiid proved to be too much for a Charlotte team playing without top centers in Mark Williams and Nick Richards. Charlotte was forced to defend Embiid with P.J. Washington, who fouled out, and Nathan Mensah, creating a big size mismatch for the 76ers’ 7-foot, 280-pound center.

“We knew they were down guys and had a smaller team tonight, so we had to exploit those type of mismatches out there,” Harris said.

The Hornets were forced to double team Embiid most of the game.

“We just had to make the right play,” Harris said. “It was a pretty simple game plan for us. I thought in the fourth quarter we did a great job of executing it.”

Charlotte coach Steve Clifford felt the Hornets did a decent job on Embiid, considering he scored 42 points against them December 16 and the team was without its own two 7-footers.

“I mean, he’s a brutal guy to defend,” Clifford said. “We did a lot better than we did last time.”

The Hornets led 73-69 after the third quarter, but the 76ers went on a 13-2 run to open the fourth with Embiid on the bench. Harris and Danuel House combined for 11 points during the stretch.

Embiid checked back into the game with 6:52 left, with the 76ers up by four and they outscored the Hornets 15-9 the rest of the way. Embiid’s fallaway jumper with 2:42 remaining put the 76ers up by 10 and they were never seriously threatened again.