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Wrap-Up -- Less than 24 hours after they mounted a furious 17-point fourth quarter comeback against Washington, the Wine & Gold found themselves in a similar situation on Friday night against a young, rested and hungry Sixers squad seeking their 13th straight victory.
Down by as many as 30 in the second quarter, the Cavs fought all the way back and were a Larry Nance Jr. tip-in away from sending the game into overtime. But the attempt fell just short as Cleveland fell in a 132-130 thriller in Philly.
The Wine & Gold were led by big performances by LeBron James and Jeff Green.
LBJ recorded his 18th triple-double of the season tallying a game-high 44 points to go along with team-highs of 11 rebounds and 11 assists on 17-of-29 shooting from the floor.
Green was just as efficient shooting the basketball on Friday, going 10-for-12 from the field including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc and a perfect 8-for-8 at the charity stripe to score his season-high of 33 points.
Kevin Love was the only other Cavalier to record double figures in scoring, adding 17 points, nine boards and four assists in 32 minutes.
Philly was led by their backcourt trio of J.J. Redick, Ben Simmons and Marco Belinelli.
Redick finished with a team-high 28 points, including two crucial triples inside of five minutes. Simmons recorded his 12th triple-double, posting 27 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists. Off the bench, Belinelli chipped in 23 points on 6-of-12 shooting from downtown.
The game was a tale of two halfs. Behind an energized and electric Wells Fargo Center crowd, the Sixers jumped on the tired Cavs in the first half. Philly nearly set opponent highs for a quarter (41, needed 43) and a half (78, needed 79). When the half was all said and done, the Sixers held a 23-point lead.
The Wine & Gold came out in the second half on a mission, led by LeBron James who scored 19 points in the third quarter. As a team, the Cavs shot .714 (15-21) in the period with Kevin Love scoring 10 and Jeff Green seven points to trim the Sixers lead to 105-98 heading into the fourth.
Although they fought all the way back, the Cavs could never get to even in the fourth as Philly always had an answer down the stretch.
With Friday's outcome, Philadelphia jumps into the third seed in the Eastern Conference with a 49-30 record, one half game ahead of the Wine & Gold at 49-31 with five days remaining in the 2017-18 regular season.
Jeff Green adds a season-high 33 points on Friday in Philly.
Turning Point -- Ersan Ilyasova made a pair of free throws to put Philly ahead 132-129 with 3.3 seconds left. Out of timeouts, KLove hit LBJ with a full-court pass. The same play they used to send a game into OT against the Wizards last season when James' banked in the three-pointer. This time, James was fouled on the three-point attempt by Robert Covington and made the first foul shot, but missed the second.
Forced to miss the third free throw, James threw a dart off the rim that Larry Nance Jr. nearly put back as time expired. Nance's attempt hung just off the rim.
By the Numbers – 34 … times this season the Wine & Gold have connected on at least 40% of their three-point attempts in a game. The Cavaliers went .471 (16-34) from beyond the arc on Friday. Their 16 triples is ironically the 16th time in their last 18 contests they have netted double-digit treys in a game (63rd time this season).
Quotable – LeBron James, on coming back from a 30-point deficit ...
"We were down 30, for us to come all the way back, it shows that we are capable of doing. At the same time every offensive rebound here or missed shot ... it was tough, but we played a good game."
Up Next -- The Cavs close out the regular season with a home-and-home matchup this coming week against the Knicks - traveling to the Big Apple on Monday and back to The Land for Fan Appreciation Night on Wednesday.