Tyrese Maxey Helps Lead Sixers' Comeback Win Over Cavaliers

Following two dominant wins over the New York Knicks, the Philadelphia 76ers returned to their home court on Friday night to face the Cleveland Cavaliers for the second time this season. 

A few weeks back, when the Sixers hosted the Cavs, a 40-point effort from Joel Embiid allowed Philadelphia to come away with an impressive win.

As expected, the Cavaliers were out for revenge on Friday, and they were a handful for the Sixers right out of the gate. 

In the first quarter, Cleveland shot nearly 75-percent from the field and 80-percent from three. With the Sixers playing passive on defense, they couldn’t keep up with the Cavs as they were outscored 43-30 in the first quarter of action.

By the time the second quarter rolled around, the Cavaliers had come back down to earth on the offensive end. Meanwhile, the Sixers picked up the slack with a bit of help from Tobias Harris and Shake Milton. As the veterans combined for 17 points, they helped the Sixers outscore the Cavaliers 33-28 before heading into halftime.

While Philadelphia scratched and clawed themselves back into the game after an underwhelming start to the night, they still trailed 71-63 going into halftime. 

Finally, the Sixers managed to pick up their first lead in the third quarter. Thanks to a 14-point showing in Tyrese Maxey’s nine-minute shift, the second-year guard helped the Sixers form a second-half comeback for the second-straight game.

However, the Sixers were looking to take Friday’s game down to the wire. Going into the final quarter, they trailed two points. 

In the fourth, the combination of Maxey and James Harden was too much for Cleveland to handle. As the two stars collected 19 of Philly’s 28 points, they helped the Sixers complete an impressive 125-119 win over the Cavaliers.

Once again, Philadelphia’s star trio of Maxey, Embiid, and Harden each notched over 20 points, with Maxey exceeding 30 points for the first time since the January 31 matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies. 

In addition to the starters’ contributions, the Sixers also received a significant boost from Shake Milton (11 points) and Georges Niang (17 points) off the bench. 

With that victory, the Sixers advanced to 39-23 on the season as they picked up their fifth-straight win. Now, they are set to face the Miami Heat for the second night of a back-to-back on Saturday as they roll down to South Beach following Friday’s big win.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.