Cavaliers destroy shorthanded 76ers 122-105
BY STONE LEXINGTON
CAVALIERS BEAT WRITER
Friday night in Quicken Loans Arena, the Cleveland Cavaliers hosted the sputtering Philadelphia 76ers in an Eastern Conference contest. The matchup was exactly what the Cavaliers needed to end a deplorable March on the right note.
Entering Friday, the Cavs were just 6-10 in March and often looked like they had never taken the court together during the month. Nevertheless, Cleveland finished March with a seventh win after dominating the Sixers, 122-105 The win was the Cavs’ ninth straight over Philadelphia and pushed the their record to 12-1 in their last 13 games against the Sixers.
“We needed a win, so it was a good win for us,” Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue said. “They run some great stuff with a lot of movement. We did a good job of just trying to contain the dribble, close out the three-point shooters, run them off the line, and I thought we did that the first three quarters.”
LeBron James led Cleveland with 34 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Kyrie Irving added 24 points and nine assists, while Kevin Love finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for his 35th double-double of the season. Neither Irving nor Love played in the fourth quarter against Philadelphia.
With his first rebound Friday night, Tristan Thompson reached 4,000 for his career, becoming just the sixth player in franchise history to accumulate 4,000 points and 4,000 rebounds. It’s a great accomplishment for the NBA’s ironman, who has played in a league-high 445 consecutive games. The Cavs center finished with seven points and 11 rebounds against Philadelphia.
While the Cavs were without Richard Jefferson because of tendonitis in his left knee and Kyle Korver due to soreness in his left foot, they still had their Big Three and a cast of other support available. The same could not be said for Philadelphia.
Philadelphia was already without Joel Embiid and No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons, but the team announced prior to the game that swingman Robert Covington and center Jahlil Okafor would also be out Friday night. Minus four of their top players, the Sixers didn’t stand a chance again the Cavs’ crew.
With the Cavs leading just 32-29 over the severely undermanned Sixers when the first quarter ended, it seemed like Cleveland’s struggles were alive and well. But the Cavs opened the second quarter with a 15-3 run, capped by a Channing Frye three-pointer that put some distance between themselves and Philadelphia. By the time Irving threw an alley-oop dunk to James with 2:41 remaining in the quarter, the Cavs had taken a 62-40 lead. Cleveland led 70-52 at halftime and only stretched their lead in the second half.
“Yes,” Lue succinctly said when asked if he was happy March was over.
The Cavs finished March with a 7-10 record and hope to put together a better winning percentage in April as they head into the playoffs. After Thursday night’s loss to the Chicago Bulls, the Cavs addressed their woes.
“Guys talked last night, just had a good talk amongst themselves,” Lue said. “Now we gotta move on and play. We’ve done enough talking over the last couple weeks. Now we just gotta settle in and we just gotta play.”
What has bothered Lue most about the Cavs’ struggles in March?
“Just not being able to put together a complete game…putting together four quarters,” Lue said. “We play two quarters or play a quarter and a half, but not being able to put together a complete game. That’s been the most frustrating.”
Lue admitted that was surprised with the way his team has played down the stretch of the regular season. Will the players openly addressing the team’s issues fix them?
“If you did something about it,” Lue said. “If you keep talking about it, no. We had a couple meetings, now we gotta do something about it. We can talk all we want, but until we perform, it means nothing.”
The Cavs will try to make it two wins in a row on Sunday against the Indiana Pacers.
POSTED 04/01/2017 00:34
Lake County Sentinel
