3-31-17 vs. Sixers

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Wrap-Up -- After the month – and week --leading up to Friday night’s contest, the Cavaliers almost needed to throttle the injury-ravaged Sixers to right the ship.

Coming into the contest having dropped three straight and five of their previous seven, the Wine and Gold were all business in their well-earned homecoming – notching 30-plus points in each of the first three quarters and cruising to the 122-105 win on Friday night at The Q.

The Sixers – playing without Robert Covington, Jahlil Okafor and Sergio Rodriguez – suited up just nine guys on Friday night. And the Wine and Gold made short work of them – leading by as many as 32 points in the third quarter and getting the much-needed blowout win.

Cleveland’s All-Star starters set the tone early. Kyrie Irving finished with 11 points in the first quarter, LeBron James, 12 in the second as the Cavaliers scored 70 first-half points and took an 18-point lead into the locker room.

LeBron didn’t let up after intermission, netting 14 more in the third quarter and leaving nothing to chance against Brett Brown’s scrappy Sixers.

On the night, the four-time MVP led both squads with 34 points – going 14-for-22 from the floor, adding nine boards and six assists in the win.

Kyrie Irving bounced back from a rough shooting week to tally 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting, adding a game-high nine assists and a pair of steals.

The third member of Cleveland’s Big Three – Kevin Love – notched his third double-double since returning to the lineup two weeks ago, finishing with 18 points and 10 boards to go with three assists and a game-high three steals.

Tristan Thompson led both teams with 11 boards – grabbing seven of those off the offensive glass – to go with seven points.

Kevin Love doubles up on the Sixers as Kyrie and LBJ combine for 58 points.

J.R. Smith continued to find his rhythm with the postseason rapidly approaching – notching 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting, including 4-of-7 from long-range to go with four boards and a steal.

Channing Frye led Cleveland’s reserves with 12 points, going 5-of-8 from the floor, including 2-of-2 from long-range. Deron Williams chipped in with six assists and six points off the bench.

The Sixers got 19 points apiece from their starting backcourt of T.J. McConnell and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, with Shawn Long coming off the bench to score 11 of his 16 points in the third quarter.

On the night, the Wine and Gold shot 53 percent from the floor and canned 13 three-pointers – winning their ninth straight and 12th of their last 13 meetings against the Sixers.

Turning Point -- The last thing the Cavaliers needed on Friday night was a knock-down-drag-out against the lowly Sixers. So when they closed the first quarter up just three, 32-39, there was understandably some unease among the Quicken Loans Arena faithful.

But it didn’t take Cleveland long to get separation from Philly – opening the second quarter on a 13-3 run and extending their lead to 23 points on J.R. Smith’s triple with less than a minute to play before halftime.

By the Numbers – 20 … games this season that the Cavaliers have topped the 120-mark, including 11 of those at The Q. The win also improved the Cavaliers record against the Atlantic Division this season to 15-1.

Quotable – LeBron James, on getting through a difficult month of March …

”Our on-the-court chemistry took a hit. Our camaraderie didn’t. At the end of the day, we have to fix it and we’re here to fix it. This is what we have and we know that. As we continue to get our guys healthy and we continue to get back into the flow of things, we’ll figure it out.”

Up Next -- After wrapping up the month of March with Friday’s night win over Philly, the Cavaliers’ three-game homestand continues on Sunday evening – welcoming the Pacers to The Q for a 6 p.m. affair. After that, it’s a midweek back-to-back – taking on the Magic in Cleveland on Tuesday before a big showdown in Boston the following night. The Cavs have just four more games from there – road matchups in Atlanta and Miami and home meetings against the Hawks and Raptors – including Fan App Night on April 12.

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Re-Focused Cavs Crush Sixers at The Q

clenadams

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Breaking Down The 'W' - March 31, 2017

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#CavsSixers Game Photos - March 31, 2017

clejgabriele

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The good news is that the Cavaliers’ toughest road stretch of the regular season came to a close on Thursday night in Chicago – having played six of their last seven games on the road. The bad news is that their stretch came to a close with a second-half thud in Chicago.

The Wine and Gold have now dropped five of their last seven with just eight games to play in the regular season. And even more critical than the final standings – (Boston now leads Cleveland by .5 game in the East) – is how the Cavaliers are playing. Getting into a good rhythm heading into the Playoffs is imperative, and a home date with the Sixers might help get them jump-started.

On Thursday night, the Cavaliers took a nine-point lead into intermission and found themselves down a touchdown after three as the Bulls swept the season series (and, pretty amazingly, won their 20th straight TNT game).

The Sixers beat those same Bulls in Chicago last week and they come to The Q working on a road schedule that might’ve been even tougher than Cleveland’s – playing nine of ten away from Philly before a quick home stopover on Wednesday.

They come to The Q on Friday night ravaged by injuries and having dropped their previous eight to the Wine and Gold – who need to make it nine before heading into the final month of the season.

Making history – and doing so at the expense of an old friend – was the last thing on LeBron James’ mind when the Cavaliers suffered the season sweep with last night’s loss in Chicago.

Regardless, the King continued his ascent through the NBA’s all-time scoring ranks – tallying point No. 28,599 with his 26-point effort on Thursday, surpassing Shaquille O’Neal and setting his sights on Dirk Nowitzki, who’s currently 1,582 points ahead.

The scratched right cornea he suffered last week was still giving him problems as of yesterday – and he’s taken a physical pounding over the past week-and-change. Coach Tyronn Lue would love to get his superstar some rest over the final month, but he also knows his squad needs a win in the worst way.

Against Chicago, LeBron finished with 26 points on 11-for-20 shooting – notching his 38th double-double of the season with 10 boards and eight assists.

The Cavaliers haven’t faced Philly since late November, but LeBron posted a triple-double in that contest with 26 points, 13 assists and 10 boards. In the first meeting of the season, he went for 25, 14 and eight.

After coming into this week on a serious roll, Kyrie Irving hasn’t had an easy go of it over his last two outings.

Even though he may have ignited another 20-point scoring streak on Thursday night in Chicago, the four-time All-Star didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, going 7-for-20 from the floor, including 4-of-7 from long-range. Against the Spurs, Irving tied a season-low – finishing with eight points on 4-for-13 shooting.

Like the rest of the squad, Irving needs a jump-start right now and he’ll hope to get it against a team he tormented in their last meeting – going off for 39 points in the late November win. But Irving hadn’t had an easy time of it against Philly before that outburst – shooting a combined 11-for-44 in the previous three matchups.

Kyrie will primarily match up with T.J. McConnell, who’s been the Sixers starter since the start of the New Year and has been pretty solid in his sophomore season – handing out double-digit assists on 11 occasions, including a 17-dime effort against Boston, and has scored in double-figures in 18 games.

Earlier this season, Joel Embiid embodied what they’ve come to call in Philly – “The Process” – having made four straight trips to the NBA lottery with a fifth coming up this spring.

In 31 games, Embiid – the 3rd overall pick of the 2014 Draft – was exceptional, averaging 20.2 points and 7.8 boards. But he hasn’t played since late January. The Sixers prized big from the following Draft, Jahlil Okafor, has been out with right knee soreness and reportedly didn’t make the trip to Cleveland. Ben Simmons, the top pick last June, hasn’t played a minute this year for Brett Brown’s squad.

The Sixers do, however, have a rookie with this year’s squad that’s shown great promise – 22-year-old forward, Dario Saric. Lost in Philly’s struggles this season, Saric has been very good and might just be crowned the league’s Rookie of the Year later this spring.

The 6-10 Croat has gotten better since the season’s progressed and he’s been outstanding dating back to just before the All-Star Break – netting double-figures in 24 of his previous 25 contests, averaging 19.2 points, 7.6 boards and 3.4 assists over that stretch. With all the anticipation of Embiid and Simmons, the Sixers might have found another gem in Saric – who was originally tabbed by the Magic in 2014 before being dealt to the Sixers in exchange for Elfrid Payton.

The Cavaliers frontline will have their hands full with Philly’s promising freshman on Friday night.

The Cavaliers have been crushed by injuries this season, but maybe no position has been affected like the center spot.

Chris Andersen was brought in to fortify the position, but a knee injury ended his campaign in mid-December. And Andrew Bogut’s tragic 58-second run with the Wine and Gold was devastating.

As Larry Sanders continues to work his way back into shape down in Canton, Tristan Thompson and Channing Frye have been left to man the middle for the balance of the season – with Thompson, in true blue-collar fashion, doing most of the heavy lifting. And even though the league’s reigning iron man showed recent signs of wearing down, he bounced back with a solid performance on Thursday night in Chicago – finishing with 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting.

Over his last seven outings, the sixth-year big man is shooting 80 percent from the floor – going 28-for-35 over that span.

In two games against the Sixers this season, Tristan is averaging 9.5 points on 57 percent shooting, adding 12.5 boards and 2.0 blocks.

On Friday night, Tristan will be up against Richaun Holmes, who’s in his second year out of Bowling Green and coming off a career-best 25-point performance against the Hawks on Tuesday night.

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KeyBank Five Keys: Cavaliers vs. Sixers

The Cavs return to The Q for a three-game homestand, beginning on Friday night against the Philadelphia 76ers. Tipoff from Quicken Loans Arena is at 7:30 p.m. (ET).

The Wine and Gold aim to get back on track as they welcome a Philadelphia squad they have had recent success against.

CAVS TO DON HWC JERSEYS.
        From where to catch all the action to Friday's game notes, Cavs.com has you covered.

The Cavs defeated the Sixers 102-101 at Wells Fargo Center on November 5th, when they scored 40 fast break points, their most since the NBA began tracking the stat in 1996-97. Cleveland also won in Philadelphia on November 27th by a score of 112-108, when they overcame a 14-point deficit.

Dating back to November 9, 2013, the Cavs are 11-1 against the Sixers and have won each of the last eight meetings. Over those eight contests, the Cavs have won by an average margin of 8.0 points (102.0-94.0). Defensively, Cleveland has held Philadelphia to .437 shooting from the field and forced 17.3 turnovers (19.5 points off) during that span.

Furthermore, the Cavaliers are 14-1 against the Atlantic Division this season (3-0 vs. TOR, 2-0 vs. PHI, 4-0 vs. NYK, 2-1 vs. BOS, 3-0 vs. BKN).

Philadelphia has once again battled a slew of injuries all season long and enter Friday's matchup with a 28-47 record.

With talented big man, Joel Embiid, sidelined for the remainder of the season with a knee injury, fellow Rookie, Dario Saric, has stepped up in his absence. The first-year forward from Croatia leads all qualified rookies in points per game (12.9) and free-throw percentage (78.9 percent), while ranking second in rebounds per game (6.4) and minutes per game (26.5) and third field-goal percentage.

Radio: WTAM 1100, 100.7 WMMS, 87.7 La Mega

Programming Note: On Friday, FOX Sports Ohio is airing the Cavs – Sixers game (7:30 p.m.) and the Blue Jackets – Blackhawks game (8:30 p.m.). To view TV listings, CLICK HERE.

For live in-game updates, follow @cavs, @CavsJoeG, @CavsFredMcLeod, @MrCavalier34, @CavsJMike and @chones22 on Twitter.

Status Update: (Cavs) - Kyle Korver, (Left Foot Soreness, Out), Richard Jefferson, (Left Knee, Out)

Status Update: (Sixers) - Jahlil Okafor, (Right Knee Soreness, Questionable), Joel Embiid, (Left Knee Injury, Out), Ben Simmons, (Acute Fracture, Right Foot, Out), Jerryd Bayless, (Left Wrist Surgery, Out), Robert Covington, (Right Knee Discomfort/Swelling, Out), Sergio Rodriguez, (Left Hamstring Strain, Out)

As mentioned, the Cavs have dominated the Sixers in their last eight matchups.

The Wine and Gold have had some solid individual performances against Philly as of late.

Against the Sixers this season, LeBron James is averaging 25.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 13.5 assists in 38.5 minutes. He posted a triple-double in the November 27th meeting (26 PTS, 10 REB, 13 AST, 42 MIN).

In that November 27th meeting, Kyrie Irving scored 19 points in the fourth quarter and finished with 39 points on 14-27 (.519) shooting from the field, including 5-11 (.455) from beyond the arc, and four rebounds in 41 minutes.

Against Philadelphia this season, Tristan Thompson is shooting .571 from the field while averaging 9.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 33.0 minutes.

Kevin Love has posted a double-double in 10 of his last 15 appearances versus Philadelphia, including both meetings this season. In 2016-17 against the Sixers, he is averaging 22.0 points and 11.0 rebounds, while shooting .462 (6-13) from deep, in 33.0 minutes.

Friday's showdown will be the third and final matchup between the two teams this regular season.

Hardwood Classics Night presented by Elk &amp; Elk: The Cavs will host their final Hardwood Classics (HWC) Night presented by Elk &amp; Elk, turning the clock back to the years 1983-1987.

HWC Night will transport fans at The Q to the mid-80’s when the Cavaliers played at the Richfield Coliseum, World B. Free led a ‘comeback season’ and a new look team took shape in ‘86 with Mark Price, Brad Daugherty, Ron Harper and Hot Rod Williams coming together in Cleveland.

In April, the Cavaliers have seven games remaining, beginning with the Pacers final trip to Cleveland on Sunday night at The Q, followed by Orlando’s final visit on Tuesday. On Wednesday night, it’s a critical showdown with the Celtics in Boston – with first place in the Conference playoff picture possibly riding on the result. FIND SEATS | VIEW FULL SCHEDULE

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#CavsSixers Game Preview - March 31, 2017

On Friday, March 31, 2017, FOX Sports Ohio is airing the Cavs – Sixers game (7:30 p.m.) and the Blue Jackets – Blackhawks game (8:30 p.m.). Please refer to these programming details, available online HERE.

Cavaliers Live Pregame Show begins at 7:00 p.m. | Tipoff at 7:30 p.m.

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#CavsSixers Programming Note - March 31, 2017

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3‑31‑17 vs. Sixers