76ers at Cavaliers
With its final big road trip of the regular season complete, Cleveland sets its sights on a strong finish at home when it hosts Philadelphia on Sunday. The Cavaliers fell 106-98 at Brooklyn on Friday to finish a 2-1 road trip, their last multi-game voyage of the season before they play six of the final eight games at home, where they have won 15 in a row. They enter with a magic number of seven for the Central Division title and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
LeBron James had 24 points, nine assists, five rebounds and five blocked shots in Friday's defeat, which snapped Cleveland's four-game win streak. At the same time, the 76ers were in the process of losing 119-98 to the Los Angeles Clippers, ending a rare home winning streak at two games. One of Philadelphia's home victories earlier in the season came at the expense of the Cavaliers, who were without James, Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters in a 95-92 loss.
TV: 4:30 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Cleveland), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE 76ERS (18-55): It's all about center Nerlens Noel in Philadelphia right now, as the rookie continues to wow his teammates in a stretch run that gives the beleaguered franchise hope for the future. Noel scored a career-high 30 points on 12-of-17 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds in the loss to the Clippers, following up a 14-point, 15-rebound, four-steal and four-block performance the game before in which he became the first rookie since David Robinson in 1985-86 to reach those figures. The soon-to-be 21-year-old has been held in check by the Cavaliers, producing a total of 10 points on 4-of-14 shooting in the two meetings.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (47-27): James needs just 22 points to surpass Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing (24,815) and seize the 20th spot on the NBA all-time scoring list. The superstar is not interested in milestones, however, and hopes that an uneven performance in Brooklyn provides a wake-up call, not that a team as hot as Cleveland really needs one. "One thing we can do is try to control how hard we play and how much we communicate, and I don't think we did that to our capabilities tonight," James told reporters in Brooklyn.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. 76ers PG Ish Smith has at least seven assists in five of his last six games and has made 4-of-5 3-pointers over a three-game stretch.
2. Cavaliers PF Kevin Love is averaging 20 points on 66.7 percent shooting over the last two games after posting a 9.5 average while shooting 31.7 percent from the floor in his previous four contests.
3. Irving scored 24 points in the rematch at home Feb. 2, when Cleveland picked up a 97-84 win.