James, Cavs outdueled by Simmons, 76ers

PHILADELPHIA — LeBron James pulled Ben Simmons in for a hug, and smiled and laughed in a brief chat with Joel Embiid.

Allen Iverson watched the scene with a big grin and high-fived a few fans.

The 76ers of the past and present sure loved LeBron — but is that appreciation enough to make him a Sixer in the future?

Simmons topped James in a tripledouble battle to lead the 76ers to their 13th straight win in their biggest game in six years, 132-130 over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night.

With a buzz in the city over the Sixers that hasn’t been felt since the pre-Process days, they romped to a 30-point lead in the first half and scored 78 points at the break.

“You get down 30 in the postseason, that can lose you a series,” James said.

It cost the Cavs in Philly.

Simmons had 27 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists and James, one of his mentors, had 44 points (17-of-29 shooting), 11 assists and 11 rebounds, bringing the Cavaliers to the brink of an epic comeback.

“He’s a student of the game. He wants to be great,” James said.

The Sixers (49-30) moved into third place in the Eastern Conference over the Cavaliers (49-31).

Perhaps the Cavs were fatigued from rallying from 17-points down to win Thursday against Washington. Whatever the reason, they were in a funk from the start — James even missed a dunk.

James suddenly remembered in the second half he needed to audition his stuff for his potential summer suitor. He had a chance to tie the game when he was Cleveland’s LeBron James drives to the basket against Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons during Friday’s game. fouled on a 3-point attempt with 1.9 seconds left. He made the first, missed the second and his intentional miss on the third failed to go in on a Cavs tip at the horn.

He scored 21 points in the third and hit successive 3-pointers in the fourth that helped pull Cleveland to 111109. James had a monster slam that kept it a three-point game only for JJ Redick to come down and bury a 3.

James started yapping at the refs, the crowd howled as he complained, and the arena felt like a Game 7.

RAPTORS 92, PACERS 73: Serge Ibaka scored a season-high 25 points, DeMar DeRozan had 12 and Toronto beat Indiana at home, clinching first place in the Eastern Conference for the first time in team history. Jakbo Poeltl scored 10 points as the Raptors set franchise records for wins in a season (57) and home wins (33).