PHILADELPHIA — Tyrese Maxey got in front of the Cavaliers’ transition defense for the one-handed slam, pumped his arm and screamed.
Well, his open mouth indicated he screamed. It was impossible to hear over a deafening Sixers home crowd.
They were celebrating a Sixers squad that overcame a 21-point first-half deficit and then pulled away down the stretch to a 125-119 victory Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Sixers won’t get much time to bask in Friday’s victory. They next play the Eastern Conference-leading Heat Saturday night in Miami, then take on the third-seeded Chicago Bulls Monday before a much-anticipated showdown with the Brooklyn Nets. The Sixers entered Friday 2 1/2 games out of first place, and 2 1/2 games out of sixth place.
The Sixers trailed by as many as 21 points in the first quarter, when the Cavaliers made 15 of their first 20 shots and dominated the boards 12-3 in the period. The Sixers then spent the next two-plus quarters steadily chipping away at the deficit.
They cut the lead to eight when Maxey was inexplicably fouled on a 3-point attempt right before the halftime buzzer. They got it down to 82-79 on a Maxey floater with about seven minutes remaining in the third. And they slashed the deficit to 89-88 on a Shake Milton three-pointer with less than three to play in the third.
Reserve forward Georges Niang then pushed the Sixers ahead, 97-93, with an off-balance floater and 3-pointer. Maxey’s fourth-quarter flurry, which also included two consecutive 3-pointers before the fast-break dunk, put the Sixers ahead for good.
The Tyrese Maxey show
For the second consecutive game, Maxey exploded in the second half. He scored 24 of his 33 points after the break on 10 of 15 shooting and 5 of 6 from beyond the arc.
Fourteen of those points came in the third quarter. A corner 3-pointer cut the Cavaliers’ lead to 73-70 early in the period. His driving finger roll through contact and free throw got the Sixers within 85-82. And his transition lob to center Joel Embiid for the alley-oop layup reduced the deficit to 87-85 with about four minutes to play in the quarter.
Then came the fourth-quarter 3s. The dunk. And the win.
Maxey’s outburst complemented a night when Embiid (22 points, nine rebounds, five assists) and James Harden (25 points, 11 assists) were inconsistent by their wildly high standards.
Harden, meanwhile, did not take a shot in his opening shift and sat most of the second quarter with three fouls. But he provided the Sixers with an initial burst to chop away at Cleveland’s big lead, willing an off-balance shot into the bucket for an and-1 and hitting a step-back 3 late in the opening period. A textbook four-point play got the Sixers within 93-92 late in the third.
Embiid went 7 of 14 from the floor (including an uncharacteristic 2 of 6 in the third quarter), but his two-footer followed by a floater from Harden all but sealed the victory.
It was fitting, though, that Maxey stepped to the line for two free throws with less than 30 seconds to play, as fans chanted “Maxey! Maxey!”
Cavaliers’ backcourt > Cavaliers’ frontcourt
When asked about the Cavaliers’ frontcourt ahead of the game, coach Doc Rivers quipped “If I say ‘they’re big’ one more time to our guys, I swear they’re gonna jump me. I bet I said that 40 times today.”
But on this night, the Cavaliers’ perimeter players provided the bulk of the offensive firepower. All-Star point guard Darius Garland finished with a dazzling 26 points and 19 assists, mixing crafty driving finishes with outside shooting. Isaac Okoro, who is normally known for his defense, had 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor.
All-Star big man Jarrett Allen finished with 20 points and seven rebounds, while veteran Kevin Love added 11 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
But Embiid still physically overmatched Allen, and toyed with rookie Evan Mobley (seven points, four rebounds) by flipping the ball into the basket for an and-1 late in the second quarter. Lauri Markkanen, who did not play when these teams first met a couple weeks ago, totaled six points and seven rebounds including a tiebreaking jumper in the fourth before Maxey’s spurt.
Rotation tweaks
With Harris available to play after being listed as questionable earlier in the day with a non-COVID illness, Rivers initially kept with his same rotation.
Niang and Furkan Korkmaz were the first about five minutes to play in the first quarter, before Danny Green replaced Matisse Thybulle and Paul Millsap subbed in for Embiid. But when Harden picked up his third foul with about eight minutes remaining in the second period, Shake Milton stepped in as a secondary ballhandler next to Maxey and totaled eight points on 3-of-4 shooting, two rebounds and one assist in nine minutes.
In the third quarter, Niang re-entered for Harris as normal shortly before Milton and Green subbed in for Harden and Thybulle, respectively.
Then, while Embiid got a brief rest in the middle of the fourth quarter, Niang played enter alongside Maxey, Milton, Harden and Harris.
