Irving, James lead Cavaliers past 76ers
PHILADELPHIA -- The Cavaliers have so many ways to beat teams, and this time it was Kyrie Irving's turn to win a game.
Irving scored 13 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter and LeBron James had 26 as well, leading Cleveland to a 101-96 comeback victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.
Kevin Love chipped in 20 points and 14 rebounds to help the defending champions (13-2) improve to their fourth straight win.
"When you have great players, it can come from any of us at any given moment," Irving said. "When one of us gets it going, we always continue to go to that person. It can be anybody's night. We're always trusting each other. That fourth quarter was just for me to be aggressive."
Joel Embiid had 22 points for the 76ers, who have lost three straight. Embiid also had 15 rebounds, two assists and two steals.
"When those guys are on like that, it's really hard to beat them," Embiid said.
Irving got hot early in the fourth to put Cleveland in front. He gave Cleveland its first lead on a layup 2:38 into the period and had 10 of the first 13 Cavaliers fourth-quarter points on a variety of jumpers and drives. His layup with 7:51 left gave Cleveland its biggest lead to that point, 90-86.
Asked what he liked about Irving's fourth quarter, James said, "Could you not like everything?"
"Whoever has the hot hand, we want to continue to get it to him," James said. "Kyrie understands what needs to be done in order for us to win. He showcased that today."
UP NEXT
Cavaliers: At Milwaukee on Tuesday night.
Cleveland Cavaliers (13-2) at Philadelphia 76ers (6-11) |
Nov 27, 2016 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | Cleveland | 27 | 21 | 34 | 19 | 101 | Philadelphia | 29 | 24 | 23 | 20 | 96 |
Top Performers | Cleveland Cavaliers | Kyrie Irving - 26 pts, 5 reb, 8 ast | Kevin Love - 20 pts, 14 reb | Philadelphia 76ers | Joel Embiid - 22 pts, 15 reb | Robert Covington - 20 pts, 8 reb, 4 stl |
| Team Stats Comparison | | CLE | PHI | FG Made-Att | 37-82 | 35-85 | 3PT Made-Att | 7-30 | 11-36 | FT Made-Att | 20-25 | 15-26 | Rebounds | 54 | 47 | Assists | 21 | 31 | Turnovers | 11 | 9 | Steals | 6 | 9 | Blocks | 4 | 1 |
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Cleveland Cavaliers | STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | Kevin Love, PF | 37 | 7-16 | 2-6 | 4-4 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 20 | LeBron James, SF | 38 | 10-21 | 0-2 | 6-6 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 26 | Tristan Thompson, C | 24 | 2-3 | 0-1 | 0-2 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | J.R. Smith, SG | 31 | 1-7 | 0-4 | 1-2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Kyrie Irving, PG | 38 | 9-18 | 2-7 | 6-6 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 26 | BENCH | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | Iman Shumpert, SG | 26 | 3-7 | 2-5 | 2-2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | Channing Frye, C | 22 | 4-8 | 1-4 | 0-1 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | Mike Dunleavy, SF | 13 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Richard Jefferson, SF | 11 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | DeAndre Liggins, SG | D | N | P | | | | | | | | James Jones, SF | D | N | P | | | | | | | | Chris Anderson, C | D | N | P | | | | | | | | Kay Felder, PG | D | N | P | | | | | | | |
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Philadelphia 76ers | STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | Ersan Ilyasova, PF | 23 | 2-5 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | Robert Covington, SF | 30 | 7-19 | 5-15 | 1-1 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 20 | Joel Embiid, C | 28 | 7-11 | 0-0 | 8-14 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 22 | Gerald Henderson, SG | 34 | 4-13 | 2-7 | 0-0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | Sergio Rodriguez, PG | 32 | 1-5 | 0-4 | 0-2 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | BENCH | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | Nik Stauskas, SG | 17 | 5-7 | 2-3 | 1-1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | Jahlil Okafor, C | 15 | 3-7 | 0-0 | 3-3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | Dario Saric, PF | 18 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | Nerlens Noel, C | 12 | 2-4 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | Hollis Thompson, SF | 14 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | T.J. McConnell, PG | 17 | 1-7 | 0-4 | 0-0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Richaun Holmes, PF | D | N | P | | | | | | | | Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, SF | D | N | P | | | | | | | |
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