CLEVELAND, OH -- Philadelphia made a statement to the sputtering Cavaliers, showing why they belong at the top of the Eastern Conference. Much like his last time out, Joel Embiid went into full takeover mode and could not be stopped. The All Star looked big man continues to be a thorn in the side of the Cavaliers each time they match up, going on to lead all scorers with 35 points on 13-19 shooting, with 17 boards to go along with his big scoring night. The Cavaliers fought tooth and nail with the monsters of the east, but ran out of gas down the stretch to lose by the final score of 118-114.
James Harden worked his usual magic with the referees, reaching the charity stripe 12 times on his way to a 21 point night. The Philadelphia 76ers starting five carried the load on what was an off night for the bench, who scored an abysmal 13 total points.
Cleveland will host the high flying Denver Nuggets on Friday night, tip-off is set for 7:30 pm ET at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio.