King James Silences Scrappy Sixers

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Cleveland 107, Philadelphia 100 – Box Score

With Robert Covington coming back from injury and making his season debut, Sixers fans had their first look at a potential long-term core with he, Nik Stauskas, Nerlens Noel, and Jahlil Okafor all in the starting lineup. Early on, that future couldn’t have looked brighter. After derailing against Utah, Center City was back on track with Okafor and Noel seemingly scoring at will. Philadelphia dominated the defending Eastern Conference champs in jumping out to a 32-18 after one quarter.

Unfortunately from the Sixers perspective, that tremendous start served to awaken a sleeping giant, as the Sixers were treated to ‘playoff-LeBron’ throughout the rest of the contest. King James transformed from his usual lethergic self when facing the Sixers, into the sort of titan that can become the youngest player to 25,000 points in NBA history (which is exactly what he did on this night).

Oh, hello LeBron: https://t.co/SorNwpBvdq https://t.co/My7XfOMsXb

— SB Nation (@SBNation) November 3, 2015

James finished with 22 points, 9 rebounds, 11 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks, swarming the Sixers on both ends of the court and helping Cleveland to a 15-2 run to start the second half and take control of the game. A T.J. McConnell-led spurt late against the Cavaliers’ second unit helped the Sixers get the all-important cover, but more importantly for Sixers fans, they saw at least 12 minutes where this group could stack up against the league’s best.

Game Notes:

• As I alluded to, the Sixers front court both put up big numbers. Nerlens tallied 14 points on 7-13 shooting, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks, while Big Jah scored 24 points on 11-21 shooting. Okafor showed off his full array of post moves as the Cavaliers didn’t opt to double-team him nearly as much as he’d become accustomed to seeing over the first couple games. Both Kevin Love and Timofey Mozgov were largely ineffective in slowing down the rookie.
• Nik Stauskas looked solid without a minutes restriction, recording 15 points on 4-10 shooting, including 3-9 from three. More importantly, Sauce showed off what he can do with the ball in his hands, as Brett Brown had Stauskas run the pick-and-roll as the lead guard for much of his time on the court. He should continue to grow in his role with more time logged on the court with his new teammates.
• Conversely, Robert Covington looked very rusty following his MCL sprain, missing all but 1 of his 9 shots (including all 5 attempts from three) on his way to just 4 points in 22 minutes. That the Sixers got off to such a good start with Covington clearly not back to full strength bodes well moving forward.
• In the latest edition of ‘who’s your PG’, T.J. McConnell had the clear upper hand over Isaiah Canaan. McConnell finished with 6 points on 3-4 shooting, 7 rebounds, and 12 assists against 0 turnovers, while Canaan had 7 points on 2-8 shooting and 1 assist. The offense clearly ran better with McConnell running the show, while Canaan’s only decent stretch was playing off the ball with Stauskas assuming the ball-handling responsibility. We’ll see if Brett Brown shifts any playing time between the two in games to come.