A healthy Joel Embiid is a game-changer. If anyone had any doubt about that during his 15-game absence due to swelling on his knee, he answered in his return against a shorthanded Dallas team on Tuesday night,

Embiid, who played his first game since Jan. 4, made a layup with 22 seconds that proved to be the go-ahead basket, snapping the Sixers' two-game skid. Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 34 points.

Joel Embiid had 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in his first action in a month to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 118-116 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, who fell to 0-2 since trading star Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.