Philadelphia 76ers beat Cleveland Cavaliers

With the Cleveland Cavaliers’ vaunted Big Three down to a Mid-Size One and with three players out pending a trade, the Philadelphia 76ers ambushed the Cavs Monday night.

The Philadelphia 76ers can’t even tank right.

The 76ers—in the midst of engineering an extreme makeover with the apparent goal being to acquire future assets in order to make a run at the 2075 NBA title—knocked off the star-studded Cleveland Cavaliers Monday night at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, 95-92.

93. 92. 156. Final. 95

With the win, the 76ers (5-28) picked up their first victory at home this season, snapping a 14-game home-court losing streak, and also moved ahead of the moribund New York Knicks in the NBA’s overall standings.

Cleveland (19-16), wasn’t nearly as star-studded as advertised, however. LeBron James continued to sit out with a sore knee and Kyrie Irving did not dress for the game because of tightness in his lower back.

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Additionally, guard Dion Waiters, center Alex Kirk and forward Lou Amundson didn’t play pending a trade.

According to Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, Waiters is headed to the Oklahoma City Thunder and Kirk and Amundsen are going to the Knicks along with a 2019 second-round draft pick as part of a three-team trade that will send guards J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert from New York to the Cavaliers and guard Lance Thomas to the Knicks from the Thunder.

Kevin Love, the Cavs’ lone remaining star attraction, did his thing Monday with 28 points and 19 rebounds, but Cleveland missed 11 straight shots over a seven-minute span bridging the third and fourth quarters as the 76ers came back from a 17-point deficit.

Tony Wroten scored 20 points and dished out eight assists for Philadelphia, while Michael-Carter Williams went for 18 points and 13 dimes. Robert Covington scored 16 points and Henry Sims and K.J. McDaniels each tossed in 12.

Furkan Aldemir—whom I affectionately refer to as “That Furkan Guy”—came off the bench and grabbed 10 rebounds in 19 minutes, although he did not score (he also did not shoot, which increases the degree of difficulty in scoring exponentially).

Tristan Thompson had 18 points and nine boards for Cleveland and Joe Harris scored 16 points. Matthew Dellavedova handed out eight assists, but scored just three points on 1-of-7 shooting starting in place of Irving.

The 76ers did this same sort of thing a season ago, when they began their adventures in building a loser under general manager Sam Hinkie, finishing with the NBA’s second-worst record despite (a) opening trying to be as bad as possible and (b) tying an NBA record with a 26-game losing streak.

With the Knicks dealing away Shumpert and Smith in exchange for three spare parts and a box of pre-tape, Phil Jackson’s club appears to be openly embracing the chase for the No. 1 overall pick, as well.

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What is life? Philadelphia 76ers beat Cleveland Cavaliers

By Phil Watson | Jan 5, 2015

With the Cleveland Cavaliers’ vaunted Big Three down to a Mid-Size One and with three players out pending a trade, the Philadelphia 76ers ambushed the Cavs Monday night.

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