Apr. 6 vs. Cavs — The Fresh Prince outlasts the King
There’s no debate here — the best game from this season was the dramatic, 132-130 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the final week of the season.
The Sixers flew out to a 30-point lead in the first half, but an all-time performance by LeBron James led the Cavs back into the game and he even had a chance to send the game to overtime in the final seconds.
James was fouled on a 3-pointer with the Sixers up by 3 in the waning seconds of regulation. But James missed the second free throw and then intentionally missed the third free throw hoping for a chance at a tip-in to force overtime. That tip-in almost came from Larry Nance Jr., but it wouldn’t go down and the Sixers held on for a dramatic win over the King.
Ben Simmons took on his mentor head-to-head and was up to the task, turning in arguably his best performance of the season. The rookie point guard finished with a triple-double, 27 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists on the night.
It truly was an amazing performance by James to bring the Cavs back into the game during the second half. He finished with 44 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in 40 minutes of play.
J.J. Redick led the Sixers in scoring with 28 points on 9-19 shooting, including several big shots in the late stages of the game.
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With the season now over, the Sixers will likely use this game when they make their pitch to the free agent-to-be, James, this summer. The building was rocking and the Sixers were able to come away with a huge win without their best player on a night in which there wasn’t too much production from three out of the five starters.