Cavaliers topple 76ers to end skid
CLEVELAND (AP) — Less than two minutes into the game, Kyrie Irving intentionally shoved Sixers forward Justin Anderson into Philadelphia's bench.
After being pushed around lately, the Cavaliers ended March showing some fight.
LeBron James scored 34 points, Irving dropped 24 and Cleveland ended a turbulent and troublesome month with an easy 122-105 win over the injury-weakened 76ers on Friday night.
James made 14 of 22 shots in 30 minutes as the Cavs snapped a three-game losing streak and won for just the third time in eight games to end the month 7-10.
It's been an alarming stretch for the NBA champions, who are running out of time to get tuned up for the postseason. But against the lowly Sixers, Cleveland regained some of its swagger before heading into April when the real fun begins.
But beginning with Irving's act to protect James, who got drilled from behind by Anderson, the Cavs showed that while they're still struggling to find their groove, they remain as close as ever.
"It's about it being a brotherhood around here and not letting anything happen to each other," James said. "On the court, our 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, so as we continue to get our guys healthy and we continue to get into the flow of things, we'll figure it out."
Kevin Love added 18 points and J.R. Smith made four 3-pointers as the Cavs won their ninth straight over the Sixers.
"They played at a championship level," coach Brett Brown said. "They took their frustrations out on us. It looked like they had their mind set on fixing some things versus the 76ers."
Richaun Holmes and rookie Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot scored 19 apiece for Philadelphia, which dressed only nine players after shutting down Jahlil Okafor and Robert Covington for the remainder of the season with knee injuries.