76ers win a game before December for the first time since 2013

The Philadelphia 76ers have been a terrible team by design for several years. As such, they were the owners of one of the saddest streaks in NBA history: They hadn’t won an NBA game in October or November since 2013.

BUT THAT’S OVER NOW.

With a 109-105 victory over the Pacers, the 76ers earned a victory before December for the first time in 1,085 days. They lost their last three November games in 2013-14, started 0-17 in 2014-15, didn’t gain their first victory last year until Dec. 1, and dropped their first seven games this year. Now, the streak is over.

Not that it was a cake walk. They took a five-point lead with 25 seconds left, and then...

... yeah.

But they held on in overtime thanks largely to Joel Embiid, who converted a three-point play with 55.7 seconds left and snagged a critical offensive rebound off a loose-ball scramble to seal it a possession later. Embiid sat the beginning of overtime because he hit his 24-minute limit, but Brett Brown couldn’t resist bringing him back in to seal the deal.

The 76ers have been on the doorstep of victory multiple times this season. They failed to finish down the stretch against Oklahoma City on opening night, blew a 10-point lead (with a late-game Embiid brain fart to boot) against Orlando, squandered a golden chance to upset the Cavaliers, and blew a late lead against these same Pacers in an overtime loss on Wednesday. They were due.

And now, they can finally exhale. The streak is over.