Cavs Vs Sixers: 5 Things We Learned

The Cleveland Cavaliers picked up their fifth win in a row in a sloppy game against the winless Philadelphia 76ers.

The Cavs got off to another slow start and went into the halftime trailing for the third straight game. Cleveland turned the game around after a halftime pep-talk from James Jones and more importantly an 18 point third quarter from LeBron James. The Cavaliers rallied behind LeBron and pulled out a 108-102 victory.

Here’s five things that we learned from Cavs Vs Sixers:

LeBron Achieves Milestones on Seemingly a Nightly Basis.

James is now the fifth active player and the 20th player in NBA history to make 9,000 field goals. This comes on the heals of becoming the youngest player to score 25,000 points.

The fact that he can break records and achieve milestones without us even thinking twice about it speaks to LeBron’s greatness. We are witnessing history on a nightly basis, and we shouldn’t take it for granted.

Jared Cunninghambeing inserted in the starting lineup helps the whole team.

Cunningham replaced Richard Jefferson in the starting lineup who was starting for an injured J.R. Smith. Jefferson went 2 for 6 with 9 points in his only start of the year Wednesday against New York. The veteran wasn’t able to provide much scoring and the second unit had a hard time replacing his shooting ability. Most of those problems went away when Cunningham was inserted into the starting lineup.

Cunningham didn’t record a point in 20 minutes of play, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t do an effective job. He provided a spark on the defensive end of the floor while adding much needed speed and athleticism. It’s not a coincidence that the Cavs were a plus 16 when he was on the floor. You could attribute most of that to playing alongside James, but that doesn’t mean he had nothing to do with the Cavs success while he was on the floor.

Richard Jefferson broke out of his shooting slump and provided much needed scoring for the second unit. He had 17 points on Friday night and was 3 for 3 from behind the arc. The switch benefited the whole team. The Cavs are expecting Smith to return to the lineup soon which will return everyone to roles they are more comfortable in.

Kevin Love‘s Shooting Woes Carries into the Rest of his Game.

Love couldn’t establish a rhythm on Friday night. He had only 12 points on 5 of 16 shooting.

We saw too many times last year that Love let’s a bad shooting night effect the rest of his game. Unfortunately we saw that again on Friday night. Nerlens Noel had his way with Love for much of the game. Noel finished 18 points and 12 rebounds, most of which came while he was matched up against Love. Love also uncharacteristically committed five turnovers.

While Love has looked much better in a Cavs’ uniform this year, Friday’s game shows that he still has room to improve.

LeBron James Can Score 18 Points in a Quarter when he Wants.

James woke up the slumbering Cavs with a terrific third quarter. LeBron spent much of the first half differing to his teammates, but he took over the game in the second half.

LeBron appeared to regain his shooting touch on Friday night which led to the scoring outburst in the third quarter. He was 12 for 22 from the field including 3 for 5 from deep.

James finished the game with 31 points, 13 assists, and 4 rebounds. He has looked more explosive this season then last and on Friday night he was able to combine that with jump shooting we’re more accustomed to out of him. This was hands down his best game of the young season.

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The Cavs Still Struggle to Start Games.

It isn’t uncommon for good teams to play down to their competition against bad teams, but it is alarming that Cleveland has started their last three games like this. Bad defense and turnovers allowed the Sixers to hang around much longer than they should’ve. The Cavs have been able to overcome slow starts, but that trend won’t continue if they keep underestimating their opponents.

(Editor’s Note: At least they started the 1st quarter okay and hit the cruise in the second quarter. At least that is something different.)

The Cavaliers will look to extend their winning streak to six games on Sunday afternoon against the Indianapolis Pacers.