The Philadelphia 76ers and their fans got a glimpse of what could have been Friday night.
No, the “Big Three” that the Sixers envisioned facing this season for a run at the Eastern Conference title and NBA championship were not on the court together. But two out of three weren’t bad against the Cleveland Cavaliers. (The late singer Meat Loaf might have been proud.) In fact, it was enough for the Sixers to beat the team tied for the best record in the NBA.
Paul George scored 30 points, shooting 6 of 11 from 3, and Tyrese Maxey added 29 points with seven assists. In place of Joel Embiid, who injured his left knee, Kelly Oubre Jr. played third with 22 points and 13 rebounds while Guerschon Yabusele scored 12 points with 13 rebounds, leading to a 132–129 victory at the Wells Fargo Center .
The Cavs took a 28-23 lead on a Sam Merrill 3-pointer with three minutes left in the first quarter, but Philadelphia went on a 16-5 run from there to end the opener powered by 3 seconds from Maxey, Eric Gordon and Justin Edwards.
In the second quarter, Cleveland made six 3s to outscore the Sixers 34-25 and enter halftime with a 67-64 lead. The score was close, but would the Cavaliers come back strong to assert themselves in the second half, as they have done so often this season?
With George and Oubre leading the way, that didn’t happen. George scored 14 points in the third quarter, while Oubre added nine and Philadelphia finished the third with a 98-96 lead.
Despite a disappointing season thus far, Sixers fans could sense a victory was within their reach and were loud throughout the fourth quarter, even when Cleveland took a 116-110 lead with six minutes remaining. from the end on a 3 point from Ty Jerome. Philadelphia rallied to score the next seven points, taking the lead on a 3 from Gordon (who went 4 for 4 from behind the arc).
From there, the Sixers didn’t relinquish the lead and built up an eight-point lead with less than two minutes remaining. The Cavs pulled within one, 127-126, on another 3-point basket from Jerome, but Maxey put the game away with four free throws. Donovan Mitchell hit another 3 to give Cleveland a chance for a tie or victory, but Edwards’ free throw with 1.1 seconds left gave Philadelphia the victory.
Mitchell finished with 37 points and seven assists, while Jerome scored 33 off the bench for the Cavs, who fell to 36-8. Darius Garland added 26 points with seven more assists. Evan Mobley missed his second straight game with a right calf strain and Jarrett Allen scored just eight despite an apparent mismatch against Yabusele.
The 76ers improved to 16-27, but still need to climb to enter play with 11th place in the Eastern Conference.
Both teams are scheduled to play the second game on a consecutive Saturday. Cleveland hosts the Houston Rockets (29-14) while Philadelphia hosts the Chicago Bulls (19-26, two games ahead of the Sixers).