Tonight the Sixers will look to build on Saturday night’s monumental confidence booster when they take on the Cavs in Cleveland. The red hot Hawks were able to eek out a win on Saturday night to extend their winning streak to 19, but it did not come easy. The Sixers found life in the second half after only scoring 34 points in the first. Al Horford just proved to be too much down the stretch as the Sixers fell 91-86. It was a statement to say the least. For the Sixers to be able to even contend with the Hawks last Saturday was a win in itself.
Now the Sixers will get one of the other streaking teams in the league in the Cavs. The Cavs are riding a 10 game win streak and have been clicking on all cylinders ever since LeBron made his much needed return. Remember now that the Cavs were the 5th win on the year for the Sixers back on January 5th when only one of the big three was active. Tonight Kevin Love will be accompanied by LeBron James and Kyrie Irving this time around.
LeBron has been on a tear ever since his return. Some may contribute it to the rest, but others may also contribute it to the addition of a few new faces that also weren’t present the last time the Cavs and Sixers met. J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Timofey Mozgov have all been equally helpful in helping the Cavs reach their huge potential. Smith can spreads the floor with his range, Shumpert prides himself on his defense and flat top, and Mozgov has been the replacement to Anderson Varejao that the Cavs needed ever since he went down.
It will be a tall test for the Sixers to compete with the overpowering Cavaliers, but after watching Saturday night’s giant effort against the Hawks nothing is out of the question for me.
Here’s how the starting lineups shake out:
Sixers:
PG:Michael Carter-Williams
SG:Jakarr Sampson
SF:Robert Covington
PF:Luc Mbah A Moute
C: Nerlens Noel
Cavaliers:
PG:Kyrie Irving
SG:J.R. Smith
SF:LeBron James
PF:Kevin Love
C: Timofey Mozgov
