LeBron James goes back to Cleveland tonight, and he is not coming alone. He is bringing the best team in the East, a five-game win streak, and a reminder of the 29-point lead the Cavs blew the last time these teams met.
LeBron James is going back to Cleveland tonight, and he is not coming alone. He is bringing the best team in the East with him.
The Sixers are 8-1, first in the East, winners of five straight, and they just beat Detroit 112-106 to avenge the only loss on their record. That is the team walking into Rocket Arena at 7:30pm ET for an NBA Cup game on Prime Video and NBC Sports Philadelphia.
This is the second meeting of the season, and the first one should still hurt in Cleveland. On Oct. 22 in Philadelphia, the Cavs led by as many as 29 points. Twenty-nine. Then the Sixers outscored them 69-37 after halftime and won 114-106.
That was not a comeback. That was a rewrite in one half.
Now the rematch is in Cleveland, and the Cavs are not exactly rolling into it. Cleveland is 4-4, sixth in the East, and just dropped consecutive games to the Oklahoma City Thunder, including a 124-116 loss on Wednesday. The Sixers, meanwhile, keep winning, and they keep doing it with a lineup that still feels a little unreal to type out.
| Sixers (8-1, 1st East) | Cavaliers (4-4, 6th East) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tyrese Maxey | James Harden |
| 2 | V.J. Edgecombe | Donovan Mitchell |
| 3 | Jaylen Brown | Meleek Thomas |
| 4 | LeBron James | Mario Hezonja |
| 5 | Joel Embiid | Evan Mobley |
Per sources, those are the expected starting fives. That is the Sixers' starting five, on the road, in Cleveland, in a Cup game. The Cavs' lineup is a real one too, and this is not a night to sleep on Cleveland just because the record says 4-4.
| Player | Team | Injury | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adem Bona | Sixers | Cervical spine sprain | Doubtful |
| Dominick Barlow | Sixers | — | Out |
| Ariel Hukporti | Sixers | — | Out |
| Jarrett Allen | Cavaliers | Right knee contusion | Questionable |
| Peyton Watson | Cavaliers | — | Questionable |
The injury report matters tonight. Allen matters most of anyone on it, because he is the one who has to deal with Embiid.
The Cup stakes are simple. This is NBA Cup East Group B. The Sixers are 1-0 in the group after beating the Knicks 98-93. This is Cleveland's first Cup game. A win here keeps the Sixers perfect in the group and keeps the run going, with LeBron back in the building where he built his legend, now wearing the other jersey.
| 29 | 69-37 | 1-0 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Point deficit the Sixers erased against Cleveland on Oct. 22 | Second-half scoring in that first meeting, Sixers over Cavs | Sixers record in NBA Cup East Group B, after beating the Knicks 98-93 | Straight wins coming in. A win tonight makes it six. |
The oddsmakers are not pretending this is a toss up. The Sixers are 2.5-point favorites, with an over/under of 229.5, and a moneyline of minus 148. In other words, Vegas expects the Sixers to win, expects points, and expects the best team in the East to act like it.
Negadelphia arrived at the perfect time, because almost everything is terrible. Except, right now, the Sixers. The Sixers are 8-1, they are first, they have won five straight, and they already erased a 29-point deficit against this exact team once this season. Cleveland gets a second chance tonight. The Sixers get a chance to make it six straight, to stay perfect in the Cup, and to remind Cleveland what happened last time, only this time in their building.
Tip is 7:30pm ET at Rocket Arena. Watch it on Prime Video or NBC Sports Philadelphia. Then come back here for the reaction, because if the first meeting was any indication, the second half is where this one gets decided.
The Sixers are 8-1 and 7-0 when games enter clutch time. Maxey is third in the league in clutch points. ESPN has them languishing bottom-10 in offensive efficiency while sitting top-three defensively; Basketball-Reference has them 20th ORtg / 2nd DRtg. Cleveland, 7:30 ET, NBA Cup. Sample size still applies.
Nine games, 28.0 points, 37.0 minutes, 5.4 assists, and an 8-1 team. We went looking for the asterisk. Here's what we found.
The Sixers are 8-1 with a roster that includes LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown and Tyrese Maxey. Their local TV booth finished 29th of 30 in Awful Announcing's reader poll for the third year in a row. The idea that Marc Zumoff was part of the game without becoming the game does not fully hold up in the record.
Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown and Tyrese Maxey count $156,492,622 against the NBA's $164.961 million salary cap this season, 94.87 percent of it (Spotrac). Their deals all run through 2028-29, and Embiid's last year is a Spotrac-listed player option. On projected caps their share keeps climbing.
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