National Basketball Association

Cleveland Cavaliers Narrowly Escape In Philadelphia

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Cleveland Cavaliers won a tight one against the Philadelphia 76ers, 102-101. Is the pressure starting to get to them already?

The Cleveland Cavaliers are not from another planet, they are actually human.

The winless Philadelphia 76ers were looking to get their first victory against the undefeated Cavaliers, but it wasn’t meant to be on Saturday night.

While Philadelphia didn’t get the results they wanted, it was an historical night for LeBron James and the Cavaliers.  James passed Hakeem Olajuwon for 10th place on the all-time scoring list.

James has now amassed 26,946 points in his 13-year career.

His next task is to overtake Elvin Hayes (26,970 points) for ninth place. James only needs 24 more points to do so.

This is also the first time since 1976 that the Cavs are 6-0 to start the season.

The Cavaliers didn’t play like a cohesive unit throughout the entire game. They overlooked the 76ers and got more than they bargained for.

Joel Embiid showed why he’s a potential future star in the NBA. His defense and length was a problem for the Cavaliers in the contest. Tristan Thompson struggled with his versatile, physical style of play.

Ersan Ilyasova also played well just days after getting traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder for Jerami Grant. He finished with 21 points and went 4-of-6 from three-point range.

As I’ve stated in the past, I don’t like blaming officials for the outcomes of  games, but the numerous no-calls in this one were ridiculous.

In the second quarter, Kevin Love‘s arms were intertwined with one of the 76ers big men, and nothing was called.

James would penetrate to the hole, contact would be initiated by the defense and nothing was called. However, the worst that I saw was in the third quarter when Channing Frye was guarding Embiid, who threw a blatant elbow to the mouth of Frye.

Did anything get called? Nope.

Somehow, the Cavaliers got more free-throw attempts. They were 14-of-18 compared to the 76ers 7-of-12. The attempts were in their favor, but the bad no-calls kept the game close and gave Philly a chance.

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Kyrie Irving had his worst offensive performances of the young season. He went  3-of-17 from the field, and went 0-for-5 from long range. But what he didn’t do offensively, he made up for defensively down the stretch.

In the fourth quarter, he drew a huge charge on Robert Covington–and followed that up with a steal against Embiid. It just shows the maturation process in Irving’s career.

A few years ago if he struggled offensively, he would disappear. Now with coach Tyronn Lue and James keeping him balanced, he knows he can impact the game in other ways.

It was an up-and-down game, but the champions pulled it out. Teams should never have lapses that could change the pace of the game, but the Cavaliers are so talented–they can afford to do it at times.

Most fans know this team is just looking forward to the playoffs, but they must get through the regular season first without taking any of them for granted.

Is the pressure on? We’ll find out throughout the long season.

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