PHILADELPHIA — Confetti unexpectedly began trickling out of the Wells Fargo Center rafters during the third quarter of Wednesday’s matchup between the 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Perhaps its premature release symbolized the state of the venue’s professional basketball team. On their final night before the All-Star break, the Sixers unleashed a dominant first half but needed to hold off the Cavaliers’ furious second-half charge to secure a 118-112 victory.
It was an enticing clash of teams that entered Wednesday separated by one game in the Eastern Conference standings, but quickly descended into a blowout before the Cavaliers’ rally created a much dicier than anticipated finish for the Sixers. Nevertheless, the Sixers (38-19) enter the break as winners of six of their last eight games and in third place in the conference, while the loss snapped the Cavaliers’ seven-game winning streak.
The Sixers led by 21 points less than seven minutes into the game, and by as many as 28 points before halftime after holding Cleveland to 35.9% shooting.
Yet the Cavaliers (38-23) outscored the Sixers 32-24 in the third quarter, including three free throws by Donovan Mitchell that sliced the gap to 80-68 late in the period. The Sixers’ Jalen McDaniels then followed a Tyrese Maxey layup with a tip-in, and Maxey hit a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to push that advantage back to 87-70 entering the final frame.
Then after a Shake Milton 3-pointer and Maxey fadeaway jumper to open the fourth extended the advantage to 22 points, Cleveland answered with a 38-20 surge to get within 112-108 on a Jarrett Allen follow with less than two minutes remaining in the game. But Cleveland big man Evan Mobley missed a shot inside that would have cut the Sixers’ advantage to two points, before James Harden drew a foul and went 2 of 2 from the free-throw line with 41 seconds to go and D’Anthony Melton added four more free throws in the game’s final 30 seconds.
All five Sixers starters finished in double figures, led by Embiid’s 29 points, 14 rebounds and five assists and Harden’s 19 points and 12 assists. Melton added 17 points, Tobias Harris finished with 13 and P.J. Tucker had 10 points. Maxey added 16 points off the bench.
The Sixers will return from the break with 25 regular-season games remaining, starting with a Feb. 23 matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies before a high-profile home showdown against the East-leading Boston Celtics two nights later.
Embiid eclipses 10,000 career points
Embiid reached another career milestone during Wednesday’s first quarter, reaching 10,000 career points on a layup through contact.
He became the fastest player in franchise history to reach that mark (373 games), surpassing Allen Iverson. Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain began his career with the Philadelphia Warriors.
When the milestone was announced during a timeout, Embiid was serenaded with “M-V-P!’ chants. The timing was fitting, as Embiid will make his sixth consecutive All-Star appearance this weekend in Salt Lake City.
Embiid initially outplayed the Cavaliers’ talented-yet-youthful frontcourt, before Mobley (23 points, nine rebounds) was a significant part of the Cavaliers’ comeback attempt. Allen, who was an All-Star last season, totaled 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, seven rebounds and four assists and helped hold Embiid to 9 of 21 from the floor.
Danny Green returns
In a fortuitous scheduling break, former Sixers wing Danny Green made his Cavaliers debut Wednesday night after officially signing with Cleveland off the buyout market Friday morning.
He received a standing ovation from the home crowd when he entered the game for the first time with about five minutes to play in the second quarter. He finished with three points — hitting a deep shot late in the first half — on 1-of-4 shooting and one rebound in 12 minutes, and spent time guarding Harden.
After two seasons with the Sixers — which concluded with a gruesome knee injury suffered in their Game 6 loss to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals in mid-May — Green was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies on draft night in the deal that brought back Melton. Green was then dealt to the Houston Rockets at last week’s trade deadline, before agreeing to a buyout so he could sign with the team of his choice.
New Sixers big man Dewayne Dedmon, meanwhile, did not play after his signing became official Tuesday. Instead, Paul Reed remained Embiid’s backup, finishing with five points, four rebounds and two blocked shots in nine minutes.
Hot start
The Sixers quickly jumped out to a 31-10 lead thanks to a blistering offensive start, shooting 11 of 14 from the floor and 6 of 6 from 3-point range.
Harden anchored the early surge, totaling eight points on 3-of-4 shooting and eight assists in the first quarter. After a finish through traffic inside, Harden rolled his shoulders forward in celebration. His bounce pass in transition to Melton gave the Sixers their 21-point advantage.
