Evan Mobley’s dunk with 4.8 seconds remaining in regulation led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 117-115 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night. The Cavs rallied from multiple double-digit deficits for the road win.
Jaylon Tyson scored a career-high 39 points for Cleveland, shooting 13-of-17 from the floor. He nailed 7-of-9 3-pointers and went 6-for-6 on free throws. The Cavs’ 2024 first-round pick also grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists. The last of those assists came on a wrap-around pass from the baseline to Mobley in the lane for his game-winning dunk.
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The two teams finished the first quarter tied 31-31. But the Sixers went into halftime with a 62-55 lead on two free throws from Joel Embiid, followed by five points from Quentin Grimes to close out the second quarter.
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Philadelphia took a 66-55 lead at the 11:02 mark of the third quarter on a jumper from Embiid. Tyson quickly followed up with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit back to single digits. Cleveland got to within three points before the 76ers outscored the Cavs 17-13 to end the frame.
Midway through the fourth, the Sixers built an 100-89 lead on a George jumper. But a Donovan Mitchell 3-pointer cut Philly’s lead to 102-95, igniting a 10-0 run by the Cavs. A DeAndre Hunter 3 tied the score at 102-102 with 5:53 remaining in regulation, setting up a battle during the last six minutes of the game.
A stepback jumper from Maxey put the Sixers back up by seven with 3:53 left, but two 3-pointers by Tyson and a dunk from Hunter (with an assist from Tyson) put Cleveland on top, 112-111. The two teams then traded the lead twice during the final two minutes before Maxey hit a floater to tie the score at 115-115 with 8.1 seconds remaining. That gave the Cavaliers enough time, following a timeout, to set up the game-winning play.
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Hunter scored 15 and Mobley added 15 with 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks. Mitchell and Tyrese Proctor each tallied 13 points to help improve the Cavs to 24-19. That boosts them to sixth in the Eastern Conference, just ahead of the 76ers.
Embiid finished with 33 points, the fifth time he’s scored 30 or more this season. Tyrese Maxey added 29 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals, though he shot 9-of-24 from the floor. Grimes and Paul George each scored 14 for Philadelphia, which dropped to 22-18 and seventh in the East with the defeat.