Jaylon Tyson’s 39 points lead Cavs to second-straight win in Philadelphia

Jaylon Tyson’s career-high 39 points helped the Cleveland Cavaliers overcome an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 117-115. Despite the impressive scoring, Tyson won the game by finding Evan Mobley for an easy dunk with five seconds left for the game-winning basket.

Cleveland was once again shorthanded in this game without the services of Darius Garland (toe), Sam Merrill (hand), Dean Wade (knee), and Max Strus (foot). This led to head coach Kenny Atkinson going with his 23rd starting lineup of the season that featured Craig Porter Jr. at point guard in place of Garland.

Support us and Let ‘Em Know with Homage!

Anything bought from the links helps support Fear the Sword. You can also shop all of Homage’s Cavs gear HERE. The link to the new City Edition shirt can be found HERE.

The Cavs played like a team that lacked their starting point guard. They turned it over 12 times in the first quarter, which directly led to 21 points for Philadelphia. This allowed the Sixers to take a seven-point lead into the break.

Neither team could make up ground in the third quarter, but the Sixers’ strong start to the fourth pushed their lead to 11.

The Cavs fought back then. They played some of their best basketball of the night in a four-minute stretch in the fourth that saw them tie the game after a 10-0 run.

Cleveland had all the momentum with five minutes to play in a time game, but then they threw it all away. They turned it over on three straight possessions. The Sixers scored on each of the giveaways as what was a tie game quickly turned into a seven-point advantage for Philadelphia.

The Cavs once again fought back with a 10-2 run to take a one-point lead with two minutes left in the fourth. Both teams exchanged baskets for the last two minutes.

A Tyrese Maxey floater tied the game at 115 with eight seconds left.

Atkinson called a timeout and drew a play up for Mitchell. When Lonzo Ball wasn’t able to get it inbounded to Mitchell, he instead turned to the high scorer of the night. Tyson immediately beat his man off the catch, drove baseline, waited until the help defense came, and then made a beautiful drop-off pass to Mobley, who put the game away with a dunk.

Maxey had a chance to tie with a desperation jumper from just inside halfcourt, but he wasn’t able to get it to go.

Tyson was Cleveland’s best player on the court. He seemingly couldn’t miss from deep as he went 7-9 from beyond the arc. Overall, Tyson connected on 13 of his 17 attempts from the field. This led to a career-high 39 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists.

The Cavs needed that kind of performance with Donovan Mitchell struggling. The Sixers double-teamed him and forced the ball out of his hands anytime they had a chance to do so. This resulted in him finishing with just 13 points on 13 shot attempts with 12 assists and six turnovers.

De’Andre Hunter had another strong performance. He provided 16 points off the bench, with seven of them coming during the fourth-quarter comeback.

Mobley scored 15 points, including three in the final 30 seconds, to secure the victory.

Tyrese Proctor also made a positive contribution as he added 13 points on 5-8 shooting in 11 minutes of action. Porter provided 11 assists and two points in the win.

The Sixers were led by 33 points and five rebounds from Joel Embiid. Maxey had 22 points on 9-23 shooting with nine assists.

This wasn’t the prettiest game, particularly in the first half, but the Cavs found a way to dig deep and secure a hard-fought road victory. They’ve now won three out of their last four and seven of their last 10.

The Cavs will be back in action on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as they host the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. Tip-off will be at 2:30 PM.