76ers-Cavaliers Best/Worst: Irving, Embiid and another sizable lead blown
Here is my look at some of the best and worst performances from the Cavs' 112-108 victory over the 76ers on Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center:
Best performance: Kyrie Irving gets this on a night when his teammate, LeBron James, records his 45th career triple double. But Irving scored 19 of his season-high 39 points in the fourth quarter. The Cavs point guard scored 10 of his team's 13 points of the quarter. He made 5 of 11 three-point attempts and all six of his foul shots.
Worst performance: This goes to J R Smith. The Cavs shooting guard missed all of his 11 shot attempts en route to being held scoreless.
Best performance by a Sixer: You have to give this to Joel Embiid. The 7-foot-2 center scored a team-high 22 points and grabbed a co-team-high nine rebounds. Embiid also had a game-high three blocked shots.
Best defensive performance: Embiid is the logical person to win this award. In addition to finishing with three blocks, he had nine rebounds – with five coming on the defensive end.
Worst statistic: How can you not give this to the Cavs' first-quarter shooting? They missed their first 14 shots en route to shooting 25.9 percent for the quarter.
Best statistic: This award goes to the Cavs' foul shooting. They made 24 of 28 shots for 85.7 percent.
Worst of the worst: This goes to the Sixers blowing another sizable lead. They had a 14-point cushion late in the second quarter and a 10-point lead late in the third before blowing it in their 13th loss of the season.
Follow and contact 76ers beat writer Keith Pompey on Twitter and on Instagram at PompeyOnSixers.