James, Cavs shown up by young 76ers
CLEVELAND — J.J. Redick scored 22 points, Joel Embiid had 17 points and 14 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers delivered an in-person sales pitch to LeBron James by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-97 on Thursday night to end an 11-game losing streak against the Eastern Conference champions.
Ben Simmons scored 18 and Dario Saric 16, including a critical 3-pointer in the closing minutes, for the rising Sixers, who are 8-2 since Feb. 6.
James finished with 30 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Earlier this week, three billboards urging the three-time champion to sign as a free agent this summer with Philadelphia were unveiled on a busy highway outside Cleveland. James said he hadn’t seen the signs, which were paid for by a Pennsylvania company, but he was pleased that fans want him.
The Sixers gave him a glimpse of what he could be joining.
Philadelphia nearly blew a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter as the Cavs, who never led, got within 95-94 on Kyle Korver’s 3-pointer with 2:25 left. But the young Sixers showed poise by scoring the next eight points to seal an impressive win.
Tempers flared in the closing seconds when Saric dunked and Cleveland’s Jordan Clarkson threw the ball off his back. Clarkson was ejected but that didn’t stop players from jawing at each other.
After the final horn, James walked to Philadelphia’s end of the floor and to hug both Simmons and Embiid, embraces that had to make Cleveland fans cringe.
Embiid sat out the Sixers’ previous visit to Cleveland on Dec. 9 because he wasn’t playing back-to-back games at that time.
The Cavs weren’t so lucky this time and struggled to defend the 7-footer, whose stepback jumper put the Sixers up 100-94 with 1:28 remaining.
The Cavs played without starting guard J.R. Smith, who was suspended one game by the team for detrimental conduct. Smith attended the team’s morning shootaround, but coach Tyronn Lue indicated something happened after the workout that led to the one-game ban. Lue expects Smith to practice Friday and play Saturday against Denver. Isaiah Thomas scored a season-high 29 points, Julius Randle added 25 and Los Angeles topped Miami on the road. Brandon Ingram added 19, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 18 and Kyle Kuzma finished with 16 for the Lakers, who won in Miami for the first time since Feb. 10, 2008. The Lakers shot 59 percent and were 16 of 29 from 3-point range. It was the most points allowed by the Heat this season. Dwyane Wade scored 25 points for Miami. Goran Dragic had 19, Justise Winslow scored 17 and Josh Richardson and Bam Adebayo each added 15 for the Heat.
Former Los Angeles Lakers guard Corey Brewer will sign with the Oklahoma City after he clears waivers. The move was confirmed by Brewer’s agent, Happy Walters. Brewer, 31, averaged 3.7 points in 54 games with the Lakers this season.