NBA 2018-19: Cleveland Cavaliers vs Philadelphia 76ers, 3 Talking Points

#1 Collin Sexton, Rodney Hood & Jordan Clarkson came up big down the stretch

Four of the Cavs' starters scored in double-digits.

The Cavaliers came out all guns blazing from the word go and stretched an 8-point lead at the end of the first period. Philly kept digging into the cushion but the Cavs refused to give way.

Collin Sexton & Rodney Hood combined for 48 points and shot a combined 20-38 from the field. Sexton and Hood both made a ton of closely contested long twos, but then again, the Sixers defense let them have whatever shot they desired from wherever they felt like.

Also, according to stats.nba.com Sixers combined to contest 70 shots in the game, when Cleveland took 93 shots in total. This emphasises the fact that the Cavs made a lot of tough shots throughout the night.

“I got to give them a lot of credit, they made a lot of tough shots,” Joel Embiid said. “They made a lot of long twos. That’s what we want, we want teams to make long twos, and tonight [Cleveland] made a lot of them.”

But the grit of the LeBron-less Defending East Champs came into play down in the 4th quarter when they mounted a game-changing 22-8 surge. Jordan Clarkson stepped up big time, scoring 14 of his 19 points in the fourth. Rodney Hood (25 pts) was also clutch in crunch time. His triple with three minutes left gave Cleveland a 15-point lead.