LeBron James, Cavaliers show upstart 76ers how much they still have to learn
The Philadelphia 76ers faced a test Monday night against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The upstart Sixers had another game in which to measure progress. How do they stack up against LeBron James and the Cavaliers, who have represented the East in the NBA Finals the past three seasons?
It was also a test for the Cavs, who faced a quality opponent on the road following seven connective victories.
The Cavs aced the exam, and Sixers did not.
Cleveland won for the eighth consecutive time, beating the Sixers 113-91. Cleveland is 13-7 and a half-game behind Detroit for second place in the East, while Philadelphia fell to 11-8.
The Cavs’ offense continued to hum — James had 30 points, and Jeff Green, Dwyane Wade, Channing Frye and Kyle Korver combined for 50 points off the bench — and their defense showed more improvement, holding the Sixers to 37.6% shooting, including 10.7% on three-pointers.
Cleveland is the hottest team in the East, James is having another MVP-like season, Wade is finding his place with the second unit, and the Cavs keep giving reminders that they’re still the team to beat in the conference — knowing they get Isaiah Thomas back around Christmas and Tristan Thompson soon.
“We are just trying to get better each day, each game and we finally figured out who we are,” Cavs coach Ty Lue said. “We are getting better defensively. Offensively we are moving the basketball, sharing the ball.”
The Sixers learned the hard way.
“We didn’t play well on either side of the ball,” Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said. “We give them credit. But we go away feeling like this is not who we are.”
The Sixers missed 25 three-pointers. That’s hard to do, and it’s not like Cleveland played great defense or had great closeouts on every missed Sixers three-pointer. But the Cavs’ defense made Philadelphia work hard for its points.
Center Joel Embiid had 30 points, but he made just 11-of-24 shots. Ben Simmons had just 10 points and two assists — both below his season averages of 18.1 and 7.4. Robert Covington missed all nine of his three-point attempts.
Source:-Â https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/columnist/jeff-zillgitt/2017/11/28/cavaliers-beat-sixers-early-season-test-eastern-conference/900339001/
