The Sixer Sense
Fansided

Sixers move to 3rd seed in win over Cavs

By Ken Jaskulski

PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 6: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers hugs Ben Simmons #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers after the game at the Wells Fargo Center on April 6, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 76ers defeated the Cavaliers 132-130. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 6: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers hugs Ben Simmons #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers after the game at the Wells Fargo Center on April 6, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 76ers defeated the Cavaliers 132-130. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers for their 13th win in a row and moved into third place in the Eastern Conference standings.

Ben Simmons led the Philadelphia 76ers past the Cleveland Cavaliers 132-130 with his 12th triple-double of the season. Simmons (27 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists) had help from J.J. Redick (28 points), Marco Belinelli (23 points), Ersan Ilyasova (17 points and 11 rebounds) and Markelle Fultz (10 points).

Cleveland was led by Lebron James, who was determined to put his stamp on this game. James (40 minutes, 44 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists and eight turnovers) was unstoppable all evening. James received help from Jeff Green (33 points) and Kevin Love (17 points and nine rebounds), but it wasn’t enough despite the Sixers blowing a 30-point lead.

The Sixers built a 23-point halftime lead as Cleveland started off slowly, having played last night against Washington. Cleveland had a great come back last night after being down 17 points in the second half to beat Washington at the end.

Cleveland outscored Philly 43-27 in the third quarter and by ten points in the fourth to close to within two points of the Sixers in the fourth quarter. Philly closed out the game as Redick hit a couple of jump shots and both Redick and Ilyasova sank clutch free throws.

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Cleveland has a chance to tie the game with 1.9 seconds left as Covington fouled James attempting to throw up a desperation jump shot. James missed the second free throw and Philly secured the rebound on the third free throw to avoid a collapse similar to the one against Golden State earlier in the season.

To be fair, this is not the same Sixers team that lost to Golden State.

STAT GEEKS

Philly had 21 assists to only four turnovers at half. Dario Saric only shot 1-9 on his return to the lineup. T.J. McConnell only played five minutes. LeBron James almost had a quadruple-double with eight turnovers. Cleveland shot better than Philadelphia (51.7 to 49.5 percent), but Philadelphia out rebounded Cleveland 45-40 and had 10 steals to Cleveland’s six.

MARKELLE FULTZ WATCH

In 11 minutes, Fultz scored 10 points (5-8 shooting) and had three rebounds, four assists and two turnovers. More importantly, Fultz broke down Cleveland’s defense multiple times and made J.R. Smith look foolish on one play. Fultz looks better every time he steps onto the court.

REF REPORT

Hard to give this crew a grade tonight because they did a solid job overall, but that was overshadowed by two absolutely horrible calls.  One of those was by Lauren Holtkamp, who awarded James three free throws at the end when he was nowhere close to being in the shooting motion.

The worst call of the night, however, went to Pat Fraher. In the first half, Ersan Ilyasova was called for a block against Jeff Green driving to the basket. Not only was the call incorrect, Fraher also awarded Green two free throws, which was also incorrect. It’s rare for any ref to make multiple mistakes on one call, but Fraher was able to pull it off.

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HEAD SCRATCHERS

When James is trying to get a defensive switch on the perimeter, why are the Sixers so accommodating? The 76er defender covering the Caviler screening for James off ball should allow the 76er defender covering James to go under the pick or trap James (like they did at the end) and get the ball out of his hands. Why did it take so long for Brown to make that adjustment?

Also, why does Belinelli, with under a minute left, throw a long cross-court pass (which gets stolen) instead of calling a timeout?

Anyone notice the love fest between James and the Sixers after the game?

SECTION 124 REPORT

General consensus from the group was that LeBron James had one of the best complaining performances to the officials all season, however he is still in second place.

Next: Comparing today's Sixers to the 1983 champs

James Hardin is still in first place from his complaining performance when Houston visited early in the season.