NEW YORK -- Robert Covington's day consisted of dropping to the floor three times from hits to the head and a bloody nose.

The end of Covington's afternoon featured him hitting two big shots in a significant win for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Covington withstood those hits, scored 15 points and converted two key shots for the 76ers, who matched last season's win total by rallying from a 11-point halftime deficit and scoring 13 straight points down the stretch of a 105-95 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.

"It's the city of Philadelphia and we need that grit," said Philadelphia coach Brett Brown, who estimated Covington had 13 deflections to go along with five steals and 11 rebounds. "We need to build it through defense and that toughness."

With 1:28 remaining in the first half, Covington was elbowed in the right eye while trying to defend Bojan Bogdanovic. He fell to the ground and stayed there for a few minutes before joining the team in a timeout.

Covington had a cut lip attended to and while he was getting it fixed, Brook Lopez nearly ran into him chasing a ball out of bounds.

Early in the third quarter, which began with a 13-0 Philadelphia run, Covington was hit near the eye again by Trevor Booker on a play underneath the basket.

"It's just a matter of continuing to play no matter what," Covington said. "You're going to get bumps and bruises. It's just a matter of your mental toughness to keep going no matter what. I'm not going to leave my teammates because I'm hurting.

"I got bumped in the knee, I got kneed in my thigh. It don't mean I'm going to stop going. I still push through it and I'm still going to go out there and give my all to my team."

Covington withstood the second blow and stayed in the game as Philadelphia took its first double-digit lead and a 78-73 advantage into the fourth quarter. He played most of the fourth as well when the Sixers were in an 85-85 deadlock with about seven minutes remaining.

Covington hit the tiebreaking free throws and sank two more at the line with 4:04 left. He then finished off Philadelphia's third win in four games by rebounding a missed 3-pointer by Bogdanovic and soaring in for a dunk with three minutes remaining and turning a Brooklyn turnover into a 3-pointer for a 101-87 lead with 1:57 to go.

"He's been playing great for us and people always think to look at the stat sheet instead of actually looking at the game, but he's really important to us especially defensively as far as deflections and guarding all the team's best players," Sixers center Joel Embiid said. "Just having him on the team is great."

Embiid led the Sixers with 20 points. Playing with a restriction of about 28 minutes, the rookie was on the floor for 24 and finished off his 14th 20-point game by hitting two free throws.

While scoring his final points, Embiid heard chants of "Trust the Process," in reference to the team's rebuilding plan. After he walked off the court, those chants grew louder as Embiid encouraged the fans.

Besides Embiid's and Covington's totals, three others reached double figures for the Sixers, who are 6-8 since an eight-game losing streak. Dario Saric added 18 points, Nik Stauskas contributed 15 and Ersan Illysova chipped in 14.

The Sixers outscored the Nets 59-38 in the second half after trailing the entire first half. They held the Nets scoreless for the first 4:42 of the third quarter and for a span of nearly five minutes down the stretch.

Lopez scored 18 of his 26 points before halftime for the Nets, who lost their sixth straight and 11th in 12 games to drop to 4-23 since Nov. 12. Justin Hamilton added 16 points and Bogdanovic finished with 12.

"We fought, but I guess just ran out of gas," Nets rookie point guard Isaiah Whitehead said.

Before collapsing, the Nets went into halftime with a double-digit lead when Lopez hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds. Brooklyn endured another ugly third quarter by going 6 of 18 from the field and committing seven of its 22 turnovers, allowing the Sixers to get back into the game and eventually finish it off.

"They just responded in the beginning of the second half and we didn't, really," Lopez said. "A lot of similar things. We made a run and gave ourselves a chance, but they kind of just took the game over with their aggressiveness."

NOTES: Philadelphia G Sergio Rodriguez (left ankle sprain) played 11:57 after missing the previous three games. ... Rookie F Ben Simmons (fractured right foot) is traveling with the 76ers and worked out on the court before the game. ... Brooklyn G Spencer Dinwiddie's contract became fully guaranteed Saturday, meaning he gets $1 million for the rest of the season. ... Dinwiddie started for the first time with the Nets on Friday and scored nine points as a reserve on Sunday. ... Brooklyn F Trevor Booker was limited to 18:17 after sustaining a left hip contusion. He was initially ruled out but returned in the fourth quarter. ... Philadelphia C Jahlil Okafor did not play for the second straight game but was lauded by coach Brett Brown for cheering on his teammates from the bench.