PHILADELPHIA: This time, Kyrie Irving arrived early and closed out the 76ers late. This time, there was no presidential motorcade, no traffic gridlock and no need for an Uber. This time, Irving shined when the Cavaliers needed him to deliver.
Irving scored 19 of his season-high 39 points in the fourth quarter and LeBron James had his 45th career triple-double, allowing the Cavs to overcome a miserable start in Sunday’s 112-108 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Cavs missed their first 14 shots and trailed the entire game until Irving’s driving layup with 9:22 left gave them an 85-84 lead. James had 26 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists for his second triple-double in his past three games. Irving, James and Kevin Love combined for 88 of the Cavs’ 110 points on a day when not much went right until the fourth quarter, yet the Cavs still won their fourth in a row.
And it was a much more enjoyable afternoon for Irving, who responded well after enduring one of his worst games as a professional on the Cavs’ previous trip to Philadelphia. The team’s bus got caught in the lockdown for Vice President Joe Biden’s motorcade, causing Irving to call an Uber and miss his entire pregame routine. He finished that day 3-of-17 from the floor, missed all five of his 3-point attempts and scored only eight points. It remains the only game this season he failed to reach double figures.
Irving said his previous game at Wells Fargo Center “absolutely” weighed on him Sunday.
“I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that. I definitely felt like I owed them one,” he said. “It was nothing personal. It was just coming here and not being able to warm up and do everything possible, I wanted to come out here and play well.”
Love scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Tristan Thompson had 12 points and 12 rebounds to offset another terrible shooting performance from J.R. Smith, who shot 0-for-11 and is now 1-for-22 in his past two games, including 1-for-17 from 3-point range.
The Cavs trailed 81-77 when Irving entered the game and James exited early in the fourth quarter. Coach Tyronn Lue played James the entire third quarter and the start of the fourth. Irving promptly scored 10 of the Cavs’ first 12 points of the quarter, and his driving layup with 9:22 left gave the Cavs their first lead.
“Kyrie being Kyrie,” Lue said. “Our bench was struggling a little bit. Having to play Kyrie and LeBron that type of minutes, but we needed it for the win. Kyrie being aggressive, score the basketball, do what you do and LeBron had 13 assists. We played off those guys.”
Lue wasn’t completely surprised the Cavs played so poorly to start the game. The early 1 p.m. tip is usually around the time when they’re practicing, and Lue said the practices have been terrible lately. So was Sunday’s start.
They missed 3-pointers, layups and everything in between. James and Irving combined to miss their first five shots before James ended the nonsense with a layup and dunk for their first baskets of the game.
Despite the miserable start, they only trailed 12-6 following James’ dunk. They eventually fell behind by 14 before rallying in the fourth against a Sixers team that traditionally gives them problems.
Lue acknowledged this is the type of game the Cavs would’ve lost last season, especially when playing without Channing Frye and Iman Shumpert.
“You know we would’ve lost this game,” he said. “We have the confidence that we can play. We got guys out; Channing’s a big part of what we do in that second unit. Shump’s a big part of what we do, so, having two of our key guys out and still being able to come and perform and win this game is big for us.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.