Cavaliers wipe out early deficit against 76ers
PHILADELPHIA -- Kyrie Irving scored 39 points, Kevin Love had 25 points and 11 rebounds and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers rallied from an early 14-point deficit to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 112-108 on Sunday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center.
LeBron James also had 26 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds for this third triple-double of the season and Tristan Thompson added 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavaliers (13-2), who own the best record in the Eastern Conference. It's also the best 15-game start in the history of the franchise.
The Cavaliers beat the Sixers for the eighth straight time.
Joel Embiid led the Sixers (4-13) with 22 points and nine rebounds, and Jahlil Okafor added 14 points and nine rebounds. Ersan Ilyasova and Gerald Hendersonn scored 13 points each, Sergio Rodriguez had 12, Nik Stauskas contributed 11 and Dario Saric added 10.
Philadelphia closed a five-game homestand at 2-3. After winning the first two games against the Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat, they have since dropped home games against the Memphis Grizzlies, Chicago Bulls and Cavaliers.
The Sixers led 81-71 late in the third quarter before the Cavaliers responded with six straight points to close the advantage to four at 81-77.
Irving became red hot in the fourth with 13 early points as the Cavaliers surged to a 97-89 lead with 5:45 remaining. Irving's 3-pointer from the baseline as the shot clock expired gave them an eight-point lead.
Irving, who scored 19 points in the final 12 minutes, drove coast to coast and scored again for a 100-91 lead with 4:20 left.
Ilyasova knocked down a 3-pointer and was fouled with 1:00 left for the unconventional four-point play, cutting the Cleveland lead to 108-103.
On the ensuing possession, James worked most of the shot clock and hit a layup with 37.1 seconds remaining for a seven-point advantage.
Cleveland's come-from-behind win occurred without much of a contribution from J.R. Smith, who was 0 of 11 from the field and 0 of 7 from beyond the arc.
Amazingly, the Cavaliers missed their first 14 shots before James finally converted a driving layup with 6:50 left in the first quarter.
The Sixers pulled out early and led 30-24 after the first quarter thanks to eight strong minutes from Embiid that included six points, five rebounds and two blocked shots.
The Cavaliers slowly chipped away, got within 49-40 and then crept closer at 49-43 with 5:00 remaining before halftime. The 3-pointer by James closing the gap to six was a major milestone as it marked his 1,000th career 3-pointer in a Cleveland uniform.
James is the only player in franchise history to knock down 1,000 shots from beyond the arc.
Philadelphia then reeled off seven straight points capped by a short jumper by Okafor. Coming off the bench, Okafor has struggled in recent games. This time, he was aggressive from the start and wound up with 10 points and six rebounds in the first half.
As championship teams do, Cleveland rallied and went into the locker room trailing 58-52.
James led all scorers with 18 points in the first half.
NOTES: The Cavaliers played without F Channing Frye (personal reasons) and G Iman Shumpert (strained left hamstring). ... Sixers G Jerryd Bayless was out with left wrist soreness. ... Sixers C Joel Embiid was restricted to a 24-minute cap against the Cavaliers and has already been ruled out for mandated rest for Monday's game at Toronto. ... Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue on facing the Sixers: "They compete. They play with great pace. You can never relax with this team." ... Embiid and F Jahlil Okafor haven't been on the court at the same time very much this season. "Every so often they can play together, but the other team has to comply," Sixers coach Brett Brown said. ... Cavaliers F Tristan Thompson extended his streak of games played to 385, the longest active streak in the NBA and the longest in franchise history.