The Cleveland Cavaliers visit Philadelphia to face the Sixers for the final time this season. In two earlier meetings this season the Sixers are 0-2 losing 108-102 on Nov.2 and 108-86 on Dec. 20. Cleveland point guard Kyrie Irving played his first game of the season after after suffering a knee injury in last season's finals in their win on Dec. 20. The Sixers hope to play more like their close loss in November after losing to the Raptors last night 108-95.
Last night the Sixers came out to a roaring start, scoring 12 unanswered to open the game and seemingly in control of the game. The experienced Raptors weathered the storm and eventually took multiple 15+ point leads. Philly made it interesting in the second half on the back of point guard Ish Smith's career high scoring night, coming back to within single digits, but couldn't get over the hump and ultimately lost.
The Sixers come into tonight's game 1-2 so far of a season long 6 game homestand and look to replicate their success from the end of December where they went 3-3 after trading for Smith. Unfortunately the Sixers do not match up well with the contending Cavs. Smith and TJ McConnell will have a hard time staying in front of Kyrie Irving, and as well as JaKarr Sampson and Jerami Grant have done defending LeBron James, generally he can only be slowed down. Cleveland comes into tonight seeded 1st in the Eastern Conference (25-9) and on a 6 game win streak, scoring over 120 points in their last three games.
Center Jahlil Okafor may have an advantage on on offense against Cleveland down low against a combination of Timofey Mozgov, Tristan Thompson, or Kevin Love. He's quicker than Mozgov, stronger than Thompson, and if the Cavs go small Love is not known as a good defender. Head Coach Brett Brown might have success force-feeding Okafor in the post for the majority of the game.
Projected Starting Lineups:
Sixers:
PG: Ish Smith
SG: Nik Stauskas
SF: JaKarr Sampson
PF: Nerlens Noel
C: Jahlil Okafor
Injuries: Joel Embiid (foot)
Cavaliers:
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: JR Smith
SF: LeBron James
PF: Kevin Love
C: Timofey Mozgov
Broadcast Information:
Time/Location: 6:00pm Eastern, The Center
TV: CSN Philly
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Stream: csnphilly.com
