Wrap-Up — Over this past week, the Cavaliers used huge individual first-quarter performances to get out of the gate quickly and blow past their opponents. On Sunday, they did the exact opposite – rope-a-doping for three periods in Philly before “Mr. Fourth Quarter” took over to sink the Sixers.
After starting the game missing their first 14 shots from the floor, the Wine and Gold slowly worked their way back into the contest. And once Kyrie Irving got hot – netting 19 of his 39 points in the fourth – there wasn't much the Sixers could do, as the Wine and Gold ground out the 112-108 win on Sunday afternoon.
Kyrie – who notched 19 in the first quarter of Cleveland's Friday night win over Dallas – struggled through the first half but began hitting his rhythm in the third. Entering the final period trailing by four, Irving drilled a triple to get Cleveland to within one and scored on a reverse layup to give the Cavaliers their first lead of the game with 9:22 remaining.
The Sixers would tie the score on their next possession, but Kyrie canned a step-back 17-footer to give the Wine and Gold their final lead of the afternoon. The Cavs would eventually extend their lead to 11 before holding off the scrappy Sixers down the stretch.
On the day, Kyrie finished 14-for-27 from the floor, including 5-of-11 from beyond the arc and 6-of-6 from the stripe. The three-time All-Star, who's had a rough recent run against Philly – shooting just 25 percent from the floor against the Sixers over his last three games – added four boards and a pair of assists in the win.
Again, almost lost in the shuffle was another brilliant performance by LeBron James – who notched the 45th triple-double of his career (and second in five days) – who finished with 26 points, 13 assists and 10 boards.
Kevin Love kept his outstanding early season run going – doubling-up for the ninth time in his last 10 games, finishing with 25 points on 6-for-13 shooting, including 4-of-8 from long-range.
The Big Three accounted for 10 of Cleveland's 12 three-pointers on the afternoon, with James Jones hitting the other two – spelling Love in the third quarter after the All-Star forward was forced to get stitches above his right eye at intermission.
The 12 triples on Sunday extend Cleveland's NBA record to 15 straight games to start a season hitting at least 10 threes per game.
Tristan Thompson doubled-up in his second straight contest, finishing with 12 points, going 5-for-8 from the floor, to go with a dozen boards and a team-high two blocks.
The Big Three stuffs the stat sheet as the Wine and Gold win their fourth straight.
About the only Cavalier who's not in rhythm right now is J.R. Smith, who struggled again from the floor – going 0-for-11 overall, 0-for-7 from long-range. Over his past two outings, Swish has gone 2-for-22 from the floor.
The Sixers were paced by leading Rookie of the Year candidate, Joel Embiid, who finished with 22 points and nine boards, going 8-for-18 from the floor, adding four assists and a game-high three blocked shots.
Turning Point — There's no underestimating the power of closing quarters on the road to turn momentum. That was the case in Sunday afternoon's victory in Philly.
The Cavaliers got off to an extremely sluggish start and found themselves down two TDs midway through the second quarter. They cut the Sixers lead to a deuce on James Jones' second three of the third quarter, but couldn't get over the hump. And when Dario Saric hit a trey with 1:15 left in the period, Philly found itself ahead by 10.
But LeBron split a pair of free throws, Kevin Love scored on a demonstrative dunk and James completed a three-point play with 1.0 to play in the third, getting Cleveland to within four. In just over three minutes into the next quarter, the Cavs took the lead for good.
By the Numbers – 90, 0 … points that the Big Three combined for and personal fouls they committed in Sunday's win.
Quotable – Kevin Love, on the Big Three hitting on all cylinders …
“We're just playing out games – taking what's there for us and playing off of each other well. We're doing what we're supposed to do – helping carry this team and getting other guys rolling. At some point we're going to be clicking on all cylinders, we feel like we're trying to hold up our end of the bargain as best we can.”
Up Next — After dropping a tough one on Sunday afternoon in Philly, the Cavs will look to right the ship on Tuesday night when they travel to Milwaukee for a meeting with the Bucks before a brief home stopover – on Thursday night for a nationally-televised matchup with the Clippers at The Q. After that, it's another three straight on the road – with matchups in Chicago on Friday night, Toronto next Monday and New York two nights later to close out the trip.
