76ers at Cavaliers
The Philadelphia 76ers gave the Atlanta Hawks all they could handle on Saturday and will take another crack at ending a long winning streak when they visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday. The Cavaliers have won 10 straight after surviving Kevin Love’s return to Minnesota and LeBron James’ health is the biggest reason for their success. James missed the last meeting with the 76ers – a 95-92 Philadelphia win on Jan. 5 – but is dominating of late.
James scored 16 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter on Saturday as Cleveland used a 30-11 outburst in the final period to claim a 16-point victory. “We showed some maturity (against the Timberwolves),” Cavaliers coach David Blatt told reporters. “We showed great professionalism and found a way to right ourselves in the game in a good fashion.” The 76ers missed out on an opportunity to earn their first three-game winning streak of the season in Saturday’s 91-85 loss but did hold their opponent under 100 points for the sixth time in seven games.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN Philadelphia, FSN Ohio (Cleveland)
ABOUT THE 76ERS (10-38): Philadelphia held an 83-81 lead in Atlanta before going cold down the stretch against the NBA’s best team. “It was definitely a great effort,” forward Nerlens Noel told reporters. “I thought we showed a lot of resilience.” Michael Carter-Williams was the star of the Jan. 5 win in Cleveland with 18 points and 13 assists and is averaging 14.7 points, 9.3 assists and 8.3 rebounds with one triple-double in the last three games.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (29-20): James has played in nine of the 10 games during the winning streak and is averaging 29.6 points in that span while leading his team back up the standings. The superstar forward’s performance on Saturday helped to cover for a slump from Kyrie Irving, who finished with 12 points on 4-of-16 shooting. Irving scored an NBA season-high 55 points with James out on Wednesday but was held to 21 on Friday before a streak of four straight 20-plus outings came to an end in Minnesota.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Cavaliers G J.R. Smith is 7-of-28 from 3-point range over the last four games.
2. Philadelphia F Jerami Grant is shooting 53.1 percent from the field in the last five games, including 8-of-13 from 3-point range.
3. Cleveland F Tristan Thompson recorded 13 rebounds on Saturday – the fifth time this season he has grabbed at least that many as a reserve.