PHILADELPHIA -- For over three years, the Philadelphia 76ers seldom figured out a way to win.

Now, suddenly, they can't lose.

Robert Covington's 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds remaining lifted the Sixers over the Portland Trail Blazers 93-92 on Friday night, their sixth victory in seven games and eighth in 10.

"We're coming for those playoff spots," rookie center Joel Embiid said.

The Sixers, 15-26 at the midpoint of their season, are just 4.5 games out of the Eastern Conference's eighth and final playoff spot.

Covington's shot was the third by a Sixer this season that has put them ahead in the final five seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime, according to ESPN Stats and Information. No other team in the league has done it that often.

All three of those clutch shots have come in the last three weeks.

Covington converted an alley-oop from Dario Saric with 0.2 of a second left to beat Minnesota 93-91 on Jan. 3, and T.J. McConnell hit a jumper at the buzzer to down the Knicks 98-97 on Jan. 11.

"It's contagious now," said Covington, who finished with 22 points Friday.

"Some if it's that," coach Brett Brown said. "Some of it's luck. Some of it's confidence. We're reacting to late-game situations much better than we have."

The Sixers pulled Friday's game out despite the fact that Embiid, their leading scorer and rebounder, hyperextended his left knee while landing after a dunk with 6:57 left in the third quarter. He left the game but later returned, en route to an 18-point, 10-rebound, five-assist night.

According to Brown, Embiid tweaked the knee in the fourth quarter. He departed for good with 8:50 left, though Brown said it was for precautionary reasons.

"I'm fine," Embiid said. "I'm great. The knee is fine. They did an MRI and stuff, and everything's good."

He said he lobbied to return to the game, to no avail.

"Obviously those guys, they care about my future, so they just shut me down," he said. "But I was fine."

His team was, too.

"I'm happy we've been closing out games," Embiid said. "The main thing I'm really happy is that they were able to do it without me, so that's going to give us a lot of confidence."

The Blazers went up 91-87 on Mason Plumlee's free throw with 58.5 seconds left, but Covington nailed a 3-pointer after Saric rebounded a missed 3-point attempt by Philadelphia's Gerald Henderson, cutting the gap to one.

Damian Lillard, who led Portland with 30 points, made the first of two free throws with 14.7 seconds left but missed the second. Ersan Ilyasova grabbed the rebound and fired an outlet pass to McConnell, who dribbled upcourt before passing to Covington on the left wing.

"T.J. found me in rhythm," Covington said, "and nine times out of 10 my shots, when I catch them in rhythm, you've got to think, let it fly. ... To see it go in, that was a sigh of relief."

Plumlee then missed a layup in traffic at the buzzer, leaving Portland with its fourth straight loss.

"We didn't finish," Plumlee said. "We played better throughout the game than we have in the past three or four but you've got to finish it to get a win."

Lillard blamed himself for the defeat, because of his missed free throw.

"You make that, at worst you go to overtime," he said. And there's less pressure on us to score at the end. That's the one that's going to keep me up at night. ... This one's on me."

Ilyasova scored a season-high 24 points for Philadelphia.

Portland's CJ McCollum finished with 16 and Plumlee contributed 14 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots.

Lillard poured in 16 first-quarter points to help stake the Blazers to a 33-22 lead and they continued to pour it on in the second quarter even as Lillard rested.

A jumper by former Sixer Evan Turner with 2:17 left put Portland up 52-38, its biggest lead of the half. By the break, the Blazers' cushion was 56-43 and Lillard had 20 points.

Ilyasova scored 13 points in the half, but the Sixers shot just 37 percent as a team and committed 11 turnovers.

Philadelphia's five reserves were a combined 3 of 18 from the floor.

The Sixers clawed back in the third quarter behind Ilyasova, who made three 3-pointers and scored 11 points in the quarter. A three-point play by Covington with 3:23 left put Philadelphia ahead 66-65, its first lead since early in the game.

McCollum buried a 3-pointer from the top of the circle with 32 seconds left in the quarter, however, triggering an 13-3 rush bridging the third and fourth quarters. That put Portland in front 81-73 with 9:49 remaining in the game.

NOTES: Philadelphia C Joel Embiid, who normally does not play back-to-back games after missing two seasons following a pair of foot surgeries, will be held out of Saturday's game in Atlanta. ... The Sixers signed and waived G Mo Williams in a move designed to help them get to the salary cap floor, then signed G Chasson Randle to a second 10-day contract. Randle said it was "a sigh of relief" when he learned he would be retained. "It's a great feeling to know that I get another shot at this, and (get to) be around this team, be around this staff another 10 days," he said. "I'm just thankful." ... 76ers coach Brett Brown said he will lobby his fellow coaches in an attempt to get Embiid voted an All-Star reserve. "I feel like he deserves a little effort," Brown said, "and he deserves it in general." The reserves will be announced next Thursday. ... Portland F Ed Davis returned after missing Wednesday's loss in Charlotte with a sprained left ankle. He contributed two points and six rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench.