Wire to Wire Win in Philly

Usually, Donovan Mitchell saves his second-half heroics for the fourth quarter. On Wednesday night, he went to work a little early, helping blow the game open in the third quarter and capping one of the Cavs’ most complete efforts of the season – a 133-107 wire-to-wire win in Philly.

Cleveland’s six-time All-Star had a relatively quiet first half, but he broke loose after intermission – scoring 20 of his game-high 35 points in the third period as the Cavaliers, who led by 13 at the break, opened up a 22-point edge. The Wine & Gold extended their advantage to 30 points in the fourth quarter before both coaches called off the dogs.

In the quarter, Mitchell went 6-of-10 from the floor, including 4-of-7 from deep and 4-of-4 from the stripe. On the night, the 9^th-year man from Louisville went 11-for-22 from the field, drilled five triples – giving him a league-best 148 – grabbed seven boards and led both teams with nine assists. 

Overall, the Cavaliers handed out a season-best 41 assists – following up one of their most disappointing losses of the season on Monday night with one of their most impressive wins on Wednesday. Cleveland shot 53 percent from the floor, drilled 20 three-pointers, scored 30-plus in three of four quarters, including 40 in the fourth. 

The Cavs outscored Philly in the paint, 48-32, held the Sixers to 28 percent shooting from beyond the arc and allowed just 18 points in the opening quarter. Cleveland limited Joel Embiid to just four boards and Tyrese Maxey – the league’s No. 3 scorer – to 14 points on 5-of-16 shooting. 

Evan Mobley was very good on both ends once again – posting his 15^th double-double of the season with 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, adding six assists, a steal and four blocks. Wednesday marked the sixth time this season Mobley’s erased at least four shots. 

Darius Garland added 20 points and seven assists, going 8-for-13 from the floor before leaving the game with just over four minutes to play in the third. Sam Merrill, who returned to the second unit after two straight starts, didn’t see action in the second half after banging his right hand in the second quarter. 

Jaylon Tyson, who moved back into the starting lineup, added 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting from long-distance, adding five boards, three assists and a steal. Tyson – who’s 9-of-13 from beyond the arc over his last three games – is shooting .458 on the season, good for 5^th-best in the league and just ahead of Merrill (.455), who went 1-of-3 from deep on Wednesday. 

“I didn’t play last year, so nobody knew what potential I had, how I could play and help this team,” said Tyson, when asked postgame about his breakout sophomore season. “In the back of my mind, I knew I could help this team and I went into the summer preparing to play this year. Obviously, some things happened this year that opened up some room for me to play, and I’ve tried to take advantage of this opportunity.”

Jarrett Allen was the fifth starter in double-figures, finishing with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting. 

The win was the Cavaliers fifth in their last six meetings against Philadelphia. 

*** Philly native De’Andre Hunter snapped out of a mini-funk, leading all reserves with 17 points, going 7-for-13 from the floor, including 3-of-7 from deep, adding four boards and four assists in the win. 

“It always feels good (to play in Philadelphia),” said Hunter. “ I always have a lot of people here, and it’s always good energy. I didn’t come here last year at all. This is my first time back in in two years, so I just wanted to have fun out there.”

Lonzo Ball saw his first action since Jan. 4 and had a solid showing – finishing with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from long-range, adding four boards and four assists of his own.  

*** The Cavaliers stay right here in the City of Brotherly Love, completing the two-game set on Friday night. They return for a MLK Day matchup with the Thunder in a mid-afternoon affair at Rocket Arena, then bounce right back out of town, traveling to Tobacco Road for a Wednesday night matchup with the Hornets. The Wine & Gold close out next week with a home-road back-to-back against the Kings on Friday in Cleveland followed by the Magic the following night in Orlando.