NBA: 76ers stun Cavaliers to end 7-game slide
Philadelphia 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey, left, makes his move against Cleveland Cavaliers’ Max Strus during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
PHILADELPHIA — Paul George scored 30 points, Tyrese Maxey had 29 and the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 132-129 on Friday night to end a seven-game losing streak.
Cleveland lost its second straight to drop into a tie for the NBA lead with Oklahoma City at 36-8. Philadelphia is 16-27.
Donovan Mitchell scored 37 points for Cleveland, and Ty Jerome had a career-high 33, making all eight of his 3-point tries.
READ: NBA: Struggling 76ers dealing with rash of injuries to key players
Sixers take down East No. 1 Cavs 🙌🔔
PG: 30 PTS, 6 3PM, 5 REB
Maxey: 29 PTS, 4 3PM, 7 AST, 2 STL, 2 BLK pic.twitter.com/VzgVhWerWD— NBA (@NBA) January 25, 2025
Philadelphia star center Joel Embiid missed his 10th straight game because of a left knee injury. He also was ruled out by coach Nick Nurse at Chicago on Saturday night.
Jerome’s second straight 3-pointer put Cleveland up 116-110 with 6:17 remaining, but the 76ers ran off 13 consecutive points to go up seven. The Cavaliers had the ball with a chance to tie it, but Jerome turned it over on an inbounds play.
Kelly Oubre Jr. added 22 points for the 76ers. Darius Garland had 26 for Cleveland.
Takeaways
Cavaliers: Cleveland showed it can be beaten by a hot-shooting team from the perimeter.
76ers: Though it hasn’t happened much this season, Philadelphia proved it can win against the league’s top teams without Embiid.
READ: NBA: Bucks trounce short-handed 76ers
Key moment
Eric Gordon hit a go-ahead 3-pointer for Philadelphia that made it 117-116, and capped a 13-0 run over 2:58 with another 3 with 3:19 to play to make it 123-116.
Key stat
The teams combined for 46 3-pointers.
Up next
Both teams are back in action Saturday night. Cleveland hosts the Rockets in a rematch of the Cavs’ 109-108 loss at Houston on Wednesday night. Philadelphia is at Chicago.
