Third Quarter
The Cavs picked right up at that pace, making four of their first five shots to start the second half. The Sixers had answers early as George hit a couple of threes on the other end. Yabu didn’t get the assist for it but his kick out led to one of those — he also had a driving dunk during this stretch.
It did feel like Cleveland was doing a lot of tough shotmaking, but they were able to get some easier looks in the third. A couple breakdowns led to wide open driving lanes for them. The Sixers continued to answer, briefly retaking a one-point lead on Oubre’s third and-1 of the night.
The answers continued to come from George, who shot 5-of-7 in the quarter and 4-of-5 from three. Cleveland also slowed down towards the end of it, so much so that they missed a transition layup and Mitchell missed a free throw. Still, they were able to beat the buzzer with a three to make it a two-point Sixers’ lead after the third.
Fourth Quarter
It continued to be easy for the Cavs to get to the rim against the Sixers team that was seemingly done playing any traditional bigs for the night. Mitchell’s first three layup attempts of the quarter were all successful. The second unit pulled their weight though as Edwards and Jeff Dowtin Jr. each had some big baskets early in the quarter.
Sixers’ legend Ty Jerome continued to rain in threes as the Cavs extended a lead to six, one of the biggest leads of the night. After going scoreless for three minutes, the Sixers ripped off a 10-0 run to go back out in front. George, again, was at the forefront of the run, and Oubre also had a big steal that led to a transition dunk.
Oubre picked up his sixth foul when he inadvertently smacked Garland trying to get around him. Edwards was asked to finish the game for him and immediately came up with a deflection that led to a steal. He finished the offensive possession with a baseline cut that saw him get fouled and extend the lead to eight.
After Mitchell answered with two at the line, George responded with an and-1, but missed the free throw to keep it at eight. Garland cut it to five, then another free throw cut it to four after the Sixers came up empty. Cleveland showed it was far from over when they got another stop and another three to cut it to one. Maxey successfully pushed it back to three at the line, giving the Cavs a chance at a tie with nine seconds remaining. A miscommunication saw them throw it from one sideline to another, which gave the ball and the game to the Sixers.
Look at this team competing with the best team in the East — without Joel Embiid, no less!
The Sixers knocked off the Cleveland Cavaliers 132-129 in a barn burner Friday night.
Paul George had another massive second half, finishing with 30 points to lead the Sixers, shooting 11-of-21 from the field and 6-of-11 from three. Tyrese Maxey went for 29 points along with seven assists, shooting 9-of-18 from the floor. Kelly Oubre Jr. had 22 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
Donovan Mitchell led all scorers with 37 points and Ty Jerome had a career-high 33.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
Shots were falling early as the Sixers made three of their first four shots of the night, but they also had three turnovers (two from PG) within the first three minutes of the game. They also didn’t start on the boards well as eight of the first 12 points for the Cavs were second chance points.
Maxey was a big part of those shots falling. He got his first pair of pull-up threes to fall. He was also pretty disruptive on the other end with three steals in the first, able to pick the pocket of both Mitchell and Darius Garland. Oubre was also off to a decent start with a couple of trips to the free throw line. He undid it though by fouling Sam Merrill on a three, and getting called for a flagrant in the process.
That ended up being quite a swing as not only did Merrill cash in from the line, but ended that possession with a three, and then one more the next time down the floor. The Sixers were able to match though as they shot a blistering 8-of-11 from deep in the quarter. Maxey continued to pour it on while Justin Edwards and Eric Gordon both got on the board as the Sixers took a six-point lead after one.
Second Quarter
The minutes without Maxey proved to be an early struggle. The Sixers opened the second 1-of-6 from the floor along with three turnovers. They were trying to play through Guerschon Yabusele in the post, but weren’t quick enough swinging the ball around as he drew doubles in the post.
George certainly wasn’t lifting that unit up at first as he got his pocket picked and threw another wild pass into the stands. He did bounce back with a cutting dunk and another layup that was goaltended. He was the only Sixer to score for a four and a half minute stretch as the offense hit a lull.
The Sixers did quickly get back to shooting the lights out mostly led by Maxey. After getting a three to roll in he put on quite a spin move to get himself an open floater. Cleveland was able to match though. Both teams shot 52% from the field in the first half and both teams made 12 threes in the first half. The Cavs went into the break with a three-point lead.
The Sixers' Paul George lead the team in scoring with 30 points in their win over the league best Cavs.
Share this article
Link copied!
Related Articles
Get Geared Up
