It took two overtimes, the ability to overcome three huge shots by the 76ers, new lineups and three potential game winning shots by Kyrie Irving for the Cavs to beat the Philadelphia 76ers on the second night of a home-and-home series. The 76ers are a team that was not projected to be very good prior to the season. Michael Carter-Williams did not come into the league with much fanfare. The biggest storyline with the franchise was how bad they were supposed to be and how they are supposedly tanking for Andrew Wiggins.
The Philadelphia 76ers didn't get the memo. They may very well finish the season with a very bad record, but the fact of the matter is that Brett Brown has them playing very hard. Evan Turner, Spencer Hawes, Thaddeus Young and Michael Carter-Williams are all playing out of their mind. When the 76ers played the Cavs in Columbus, Brett Brown raised a lot of eyebrows when he said that his roster has "6 NBA players." The remaining 9 players on the roster evidently didn't get the memo.
Cleveland started the game well. They made 14 out of 25 shots in the first quarter which left them with a 30-27 lead. They could have defended better to start the game. The 76ers shot 47.4% in the first quarter, which is pretty much in line with how they finished the game. Alonzo Gee made his first start this season. Earl Clark did not register a minute for the Cavs. Gee only played 20 minutes throughout the entire game.
The Cavs gave up 37 points on 13-21 shooting in the third quarter. Things were looking questionable for the Cavs during this stretch. Cleveland countered with 22 points on 5-14 shooting. Needless to say, the Cavs were lucky to come away winners after such a poor effort in the third quarter.
Cleveland outscored the 76ers 32-22 in the fourth quarter. They also held Philadelphia to 38.9% shooting and they forced 4 key turnovers.
I love watching the NBA, but early season basketball can be pretty brutal. Despite an overly long preseason, players need time to get acclimated to their new teammates, and it often shows up in the quality of play early on. What we’re seeing right now is drastically different from what we’ll see in April and May.
With the Cavaliers starting their season on Wednesday night an opening night litmus test against the Brooklyn Nets, the focus will be on Kyrie Irving, Anthony Bennett, Dion Waiters, and, of course, Andrew Bynum as the Cavs look to go from one of the worst teams in the NBA to a playoff contender in the Eastern Conference. We asked our staff for their thoughts on what they expect from the Cavs this season and who will play for the NBA Championship.
“What if?”
The injury prone label is one of the most dubious honors that can be bestowed on a player. All it takes is for a guy to suffer a few ill-timed injuries before fans quickly slap the injury prone label on him. And once a guy is perceived as injury prone, it’s a monumental task to reverse that perception.