James, Irving, Love power Cavaliers past 76ers
CLEVELAND -- LeBron James scored 34 points and helped the Cleveland Cavaliers forge a merciful end to a difficult month of March with a 122-105 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.
Kyrie Irving scored 24 points in three quarters and Kevin Love added 18 points and 10 rebounds. The Cavaliers are still 1/2-game behind Boston for first place in the Eastern Conference after the Celtics beat Orlando on Friday, but Cleveland also lost three straight and five of seven coming in. The Cavs ended the month with a 7-10 record.
This season has been another long April Fool's joke for the Sixers, who dressed just nine players because of an unending stream of injuries. Richaun Holmes and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot each scored 19 points and Shawn Long added 16 off the bench for Philadelphia.
James added nine rebounds and six assists in just 30 minutes. Neither Love or Irving played at all in the fourth quarter of the blowout.
Cleveland led by as many as 32 in this one. On Thursday, the Cavaliers finished a brutal stretch of six of seven games on the road, with visits to every time zone in the continental United States.
Cleveland has a tougher test waiting Sunday at home, when the Indiana Pacers pay a visit.
NOTES: The Sixers announced C Jahlil Okafor (sore right knee) and F Robert Covington (torn right meniscus) are out for the remainder of the season. Okafor was injured March 22 and had missed the past four games. His knee has been sore since surgery last March. An MRI showed Covington had a "slight" meniscus tear. Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Jerryd Bayless already suffered season-ending injuries for the Sixers. ... Cavaliers F Richard Jefferson (left knee tendinitis) and G Kyle Korver (left foot soreness) were out. Jefferson didn't play Thursday against the Bulls and Korver's missed three straight. ... Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue said before the game that players' only meetings after the team's losses to San Antonio Monday and Chicago on Thursday can only accomplish so much. "We can talk all we want but until we perform it means nothing," Lue said. ... Sixers F/C Tiago Splitter made his Philadelphia debut Friday. He was acquired in a trade Feb. 22 from the Hawks.