The Cleveland Cavaliers (5-1) are one of the best teams in the NBA. The Philadelphia 76ers (0-5) are arguably the worst. And yet, it took another post-halftime surge for the Cavs to beat Philadelphia for the second time this week.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland Cavaliers (5-1) are one of the best teams in the NBA. The Philadelphia 76ers (0-5) are arguably the worst.
And yet, it took another post-halftime surge for the Cavs to beat Philadelphia for the second time this week.
Trailing by one going into the break, the Cavs looked lethargic and disinterested. They were sloppy on offense and careless with the basketball, committing 13 miscues. But as they have done a few times already this season, the Cavs stormed out of the locker room and used the third quarter as a springboard for another victory, their fifth in a row.
"Think we're dealing with our own issues starting out the game," Mo Williams said following the 108-102 win. "Has nothing to do with Philly. It's moreso to do with us from that standpoint. How we respond is something that we can carry over, but we can't continue to respond. We have to get out to better starts. That's on us."
Williams' 16 points was only bested by teammate LeBron James, who scored 18 points in the third quarter en route to a season-high 31 for the game.
Here are five observations from the win:
Points in the paint - Outscoring opponents in the paint has been customary for the Cavs this season. They pounded the Bulls and did the same to burly Memphis. Miami and New York didn't have answers on the interior either.
In four of the six games, the Cavs have finished with the edge inside thanks to dribble penetration, post ups for Kevin Love and others, as well as lobs, primarily to James and Tristan Thompson. Against those four teams, the Cavs had an edge in paint scoring, 172-136.
But it's been a different story against the young, athletic 76ers. The two teams were equal in paint points, 54-54, on Monday. Then Friday, the 76ers got inside with little resistance, outscoring the Cavs, 50-40.
"We did not have our best defensive game tonight," Cavs coach David Blatt said. "Almost every element of the game except for defensive rebounding. We weren't at the top of our game at that end. We will work through it."
Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor, the franchise pillars, did most of the damage. Okafor scored 18 points on 8-of-17 shooting. Noel matched Okafor's point total with 18 while also grabbing 12 rebounds.
Paint points usually means a high percentage and that was the case, as the Sixers shot 51.9 percent from the field, easily the best percentage by any team against the Cavs this season.
There's no reason to panic, of course, but troubling is a fitting word, especially as the Cavs are trying to use the regular season as an opportunity to get better and build good habits. Friday was a step back.
Entering the game, Philadelphia was averaging 88.3 points, the worst in the league. The 76ers reached the century mark for the second time this season. The only other time was against the Cavs as well. In the other three games, the 76ers are averaging 84.3 points.
Another new starter - Jared Cunningham has bounced around the NBA, spending brief stints with the Mavericks, Hawks, Kings and Clippers, before arriving in Cleveland this summer as a training camp invite.
He didn't know what to expect. But with a pair of backcourt injuries, Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert, Cunningham was given an opportunity.
"Just to play to my strong suit really," Cunningham told cleveland.com about his approach to making the roster. "I talked to Griff (general manager David Griffin) before I got out here and he was just like, 'Just do what you know how to do well and that's playing defense and being in attack mode and just be a great treammate.' Thus far I've done that and I think that's why I'm in the situation I am in."
On Friday night against Philadelphia, Cunningham proved that he's not just an extra body at the end Blatt's bench. The 24-year-old swingman got the starting nod for the first time in his NBA career, stepping in for an injured J.R. Smith.
"It definitely helps my confidence to go out there and play with a bunch of great guys and guys that make it easy for you," Cunningham said. "It's easy to come out here and fit in with the team -- just be a part of what they had going last year. Bring intensity and bring a different look to a player like myself."
Cunningham played 20 minutes, increasing his total to 75 in the first six games, which is 14 minutes away from his entire workload last year. It's five minutes off his total of 80 during the 2013-14 season. He didn't score, missed his only shot attempt, but finished with the second-highest plus/minus of anyone -- and that's a stat Blatt looks at following every game.
"I was happy with him," Blatt said of Cunningham. "We gave him a defensive assignment and I'd say 80 or 90 percent of the time he really executed that. He stuck with the game plan and did a very good job with his matchup. That's what we wanted from him. The game didn't flow his way as much offensively, but he played as a starter and I thought he contributed and did a very good job. We talked about plus minus before the game and he was plus-16. In my mind I thought he did a pretty good job."
Defense will have to be Cunningham's niche, but it doesn't mean he has any intention of becoming an offensive wallflower. The challenging part is finding the right balance between being aggressive and just fitting in given the abundance of scoring options.
"You definitely have to be ready," he told me. "LeBron is a great passer and when he passes to you then you have to be able to make the right play. I just feel like, going out there, when your opportunity gets called, you have to be ready and you have to step up. Can't be timid or shy."
At one time, Cunningham was the guy who edged out Quinn Cook in training camp. On Friday, he started on a team expected to emerge as the East's best. He's come a long way and showed a lot of growth already.
"Just blessed to have the opportunity to still be able to come out and play with this group of guys," he said.
Bench play - Thanks to a season-high 17 points from Richard Jefferson and Matthew Dellavedova's 11, the Cavaliers' bench finished with 36 points against Philly. On the season, Cleveland is averaging 33.7 bench points per game, which is up from 23.8 last year.
Despite the scoring output, Blatt wasn't too thrilled.
"I don't think we got the same performance out of our bench that we normally do tonight," he said after the game. "We didn't finish any quarter well this evening."
So what was Blatt's problem?
It was the plus/minus stat, obviously. No one on the Cavs' second unit finished on the right side of that category. Even Dellavedova, who entered the night as the East leader with a plus/minus of plus-74, finished with a minus-15.
"You guys jinxed him big time," Blatt said in reference to a question about Dellavedova's impact prior to the game. "Matty didn't have his best game today but in the fourth quarter he played big minutes. I don't lack in praise for Matthew Dellavedova for what he does for this team. Tonight was a game that he would rather forget. Except the minutes in the fourth quarter."
Love losing the range - LeBron has called Love the "focal point" of the Cavs' offense numerous times this season. In the first few games, it was playing out that way. Love was off to an excellent start, scoring inside and outside and getting to the free throw line.
He looked comfortable and was aggressive, averaging 19.6 points on 19-of-46 (41.3 percent) from the field, including 8-of-21 (38 percent) from three-point range. He also made all 13 of his free throw attempts.
What a difference a week makes.
Over his last three games, Love has struggled, averaging 12.6 points on 16-of-43 (37.2 percent) from the field, including 4-of-20 (20 percent) from beyond the arc. He has three free throws during the stretch, showing that he is floating more towards the perimeter.
It hasn't been a lack of effort. Love is usually one of the last players to leave the practice court and on Wednesday, following the 96-86 win against the New York Knicks and on a night when Love scored a season-low 11 points on 4-of-13 from the field, he came into the locker room later than everyone else. His shooting shirt was soaked and his curly hair was all over the place. He had just gotten back from the weight room while many of his teammates were ready to leave for the night.
Unfortunately it didn't help. On Friday, Love scored 12 points on 5-of-16 (31.3 percent) from the field to go with a rough 2-of-10 from distance. He also committed five turnovers.
Cut man - During the first quarter, Tristan Thompson suffered a cut over his right eye. He went straight to the bench and then to the locker room for three stitches in his eyelid.
"It was just, Nerlens Noel was going for an offensive rebound, which, it's his job to do," Thompson said after the game. "Came down, it's part of the game. If you're a big man and you don't get no wounds, don't get no cuts, you're not playing hard enough."
That's never an issue for the relentless Thompson. He returned to the game and had his usual impact, grabbing 11 rebounds, including two on the offensive end in 23 minutes.
He also had an important sequence while the pesky 76ers were still hanging around.
The Sixers had just pulled within five thanks to Okafor's jumper. Then on the following possession, James missed a layup. No worries. Thompson hauled in the board despite being surrounded by a pair of 76ers.
Thompson, as he usually does with an offensive board, threw the ball out to the perimeter. Jones caught the pass and hoisted the three-pointer, but it missed. Thompson gobbled another offensive board.
This time the ball ended up in James' hands. The four-time MVP drove, buried a runner and was fouled. He also made the freebie for an eight-point advantage. Those are the winning plays Blatt often references.
Thompson already has three double-digit rebounding games in the first six games. It took him 15 games to accomplish the feat last season.
On the season, he is averaging 10.3 boards, the first time in his career averaging double figures in the category.
