The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 119-95 Friday night at Rocket Arena in an NBA Cup group play game, getting 23 points and eight assists from Donovan Mitchell and 22 points from Evan Mobley. Cleveland built a lead as large as 25 points and never trailed in the second half.
The Cavaliers broke the game open with a 29-point second quarter, outscoring Philadelphia 32-29 in the period but stretching their advantage through a dominant third quarter that put the 76ers away. Jaylen Brown led Philadelphia with 20 points but shot 9 of 19, and Joel Embiid managed just six points on 0-for-9 shooting in 25 minutes.
Key Moments And How Cleveland Pulled Away
Cleveland opened the game on a 15-2 run built around five made baskets from Mitchell, Mobley and James Harden, with Mobley’s 25-foot three-pointer off a Harden assist pushing the lead to 2-15 with 7:27 left in the first quarter. Philadelphia answered with a push from Tyrese Maxey and Anfernee Simons to cut the deficit to five points by the 2:00 mark of the opening period, but Cleveland closed the quarter to take a 33-22 lead after one.
The Cavaliers extended that cushion in the second quarter. Mario Hezonja hit back-to-back three-pointers and Mobley added an alley-oop dunk off a Mitchell feed as Cleveland’s lead grew to 18 points, 30-48, with 7:19 remaining before halftime. Philadelphia trimmed the deficit to nine by halftime. Cleveland’s largest lead of 25 points came in the second half as Philadelphia shot 36% from the field and 25% from three.
Top Performers
Mitchell finished 7 of 18 from the field and 8 of 10 at the free-throw line, adding seven rebounds and a team-leading plus-28 rating. Mobley shot 8 of 13 from the floor, including 3 of 4 from three-point range, and grabbed six rebounds with four assists. Harden contributed 17 points and six rebounds, while Hezonja came off the bench for 15 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Peyton Watson added 13 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes.
For Philadelphia, Brown’s 20 points came with five assists but a team-worst minus-22 rating. VJ Edgecombe scored 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting with four steals, and Tyrese Maxey added 17 points. LeBron James finished with eight points, seven rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes but shot just 3 of 12 from the field.
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