Over this past week, the Cavaliers used huge individual first-quarter performances to get out of the gate quickly and blow past their opponents. On Sunday, they did the exact opposite – rope-a-doping for three periods in Philly before “Mr. Fourth Quarter” took over to sink the Sixers.
After starting the game missing their first 14 shots from the floor, the Wine and Gold slowly worked their way back into the contest. And once Kyrie Irving got hot – netting 19 of his 39 points in the fourth – there wasn’t much the Sixers could do, as the Wine and Gold ground out the 112-108 win on Sunday afternoon.
Kyrie – who notched 19 in the first quarter of Cleveland’s Friday night win over Dallas – struggled through the first half but began hitting his rhythm in the third. Entering the final period trailing by four, Irving drilled a triple to get Cleveland to within one and scored on a reverse layup to give the Cavaliers their first lead of the game with 9:22 remaining.
The Sixers would tie the score on their next possession, but Kyrie canned a step-back 17-footer to give the Wine and Gold their final lead of the afternoon. The Cavs would eventually extend their lead to 11 before holding off the scrappy Sixers down the stretch.
On the day, Kyrie finished 14-for-27 from the floor, including 5-of-11 from beyond the arc and 6-of-6 from the stripe. The three-time All-Star, who’s had a rough recent run against Philly – shooting just 25 percent from the floor against the Sixers over his last three games – added four boards and a pair of assists in the win.
Again, almost lost in the shuffle was another brilliant performance by LeBron James – who notched the 45th triple-double of his career (and second in five days) – who finished with 26 points, 13 assists and 10 boards.
Kevin Love kept his outstanding early season run going – doubling-up for the ninth time in his last 10 games, finishing with 25 points on 6-for-13 shooting, including 4-of-8 from long-range.
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