Cavaliers can't complete the process in loss to 76ers 108-97
BY STONE LEXINGTON
CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER
An awkwardness could be felt in the Quicken Loans Arena air.
Thursday evening, the Cleveland Cavaliers hosted the Philadelphia 76ers, a team that has been widely-speculated as a potential landing spot next season for Cavs free agent LeBron James. Before the Sixers arrived in Cleveland for Thursday’s game, billboards urging James to take his talents to Philadelphia popped up around the city earlier in the week. Those displays only made Cleveland fans queasy thinking about James parting the shores of Lake Erie again.
Then, there was the mysterious announcement from the Cavaliers that came two hours before tipoff, saying shooting guard J.R. Smith had been suspended for the contest against Philadelphia for “detrimental conduct.” Before the game, Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue was mum about Smith’s situation, but did say something happened after the team’s shootaround earlier in the day, which Smith was at.
“I just know he’ll be at practice tomorrow and ready to play on Saturday,” Lue said.
The Cavs could have used a few of Smith’s bombs from beyond the arc Thursday, as they never led against Philadelphia en route to a 107-97 loss. The Sixers win snapped Cleveland’s 11-game win streak over Philadelphia, which was the Cavs’ longest active streak over a single opponent in the NBA.
“We did a pretty good job defensively, just right now I think offensively, we’re just playing in thought too much,” Lue said.
LeBron James led Cleveland with 30 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Aside Larry Nance Jr., who scored 13 points with six rebounds and three blocks, none of the other Cavaliers were very productive.
Philadelphia led Cleveland after every quarter, and it looked like the Sixers were going to blow the Cavs out when they led 84-71 after an Ersan Ilyasova layup with 9:07 to play. However, Cleveland battled back to a 95-94 deficit after Kyle Korver drained his third three-pointer of the game with 2:25 to play. Cleveland, through, didn’t score another point until a Nance free throw with under 30 seconds to play.
All five 76ers starters reached double-figures in scoring, led by JJ Redick’s 22 points. Ben Simmons contributed 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, while Joel Embiid totaled 17 points, 14 rebounds and six assists.
On Thursday before the game, the NBA named James its Eastern Conference Player of the Month for games played in February. The Cavs superstar averaged a triple-double in the month (27.0 pts, 10.5 rebs, 10.5 asts), and it’s the seventh straight February in which James has been named Player of the Month (2012-18).
Thursday’s awkwardness came to a head just before the game ended, as Jordan Clarkson was ejected for throwing the ball at Dario Saric, who scored a late layup. The Cavs will look to get back on track on Saturday against the Denver Nuggets..
POSTED 03/01/2018 23:18
Lake County Sentinel
