PHILADELPHIA — Spurned Sixers fans got a chance to release some much pent-up anger at Andrew Bynum, much to the expense of a listless Cleveland Cavaliers squad.
After leading 28-14 at the end of the first quarter, the Philadelphia 76ers outscored the Cavs, 80-51 the rest of the game, shot 48 percent from the field and dominated inside in paint, 48-28 to pull away.
Cleveland did not help themselves in shooting 33 percent from the field in going 9-of-26 from three-point range. Looking at this game objectively, one would have thought that the Cavs were going to blow the Sixers out of their own gym after the first quarter, after that, it was all Philly, as the Sixers treated the Cavs like they were their own state school on Midnight Madness.
Philadelphia shot 60 percent in the second quarter, which enabled Philadelphia to pull away.
For every listless shot that the Cavs missed, the Sixers were faster, more aggressive and got virtually uncontested lay-ups, dunks and almost anything else that they wanted in scoring 18 fast break points to the Cavs 12. Booing Bynum was just the proverbial cherry on top for a very vocal and out-spoken Sixers crowd that had this game circled on their calendar.
Bynum, who did not play a single game for Philadelphia due to a season-ending surgery in both knees, was acquired as part of a four-team, 12-player blockbuster deal, in which the Sixers dealt Andre Igudoula to Denver, signed a two-year $24.5 million deal with Cleveland in the off-season.
In his first game back in Philadelphia, Bynum would hear a loud smattering of boos every time he touched the ball, scored four points, grab five rebounds and one block in 18 minutes.
To add insult to injury for the Cavs, top overall pick Anthony Bennett suffered a sprained shoulder in the second quarter, is 1-of-20 from the field through six games, and likely to miss some playing time.
Friday nights game was a microcosm of everything going wrong for Cleveland, a clear lack of killer instinct on both offense and defense, missing open shots, bad ball movement and allowing easy drives to the hoop is clearly not the way Cleveland had it mind in been held to their lowest point total of the season.
If Cleveland needs to shake thing up and try something new, Saturday back at the Q against the same Sixers team would be a good place to start.
Robert D. Cobb is the Founder/CEO/Senior Editor-In-Chief Of The Inscriber : Digital Magazine, for questions, comments and concerns email me at [email protected] follow me on Twitter @RC_TheInscriber and follow The Inscriber : Digital Magazine on Twitter at @TheInscriber
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