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Sixers' rally to top Cavs on last-second shot

It's only preseason, but Scottie Wilkebin's big three gives Sixers the win.

BRETT BROWN said he would look at the month of October as training camp for his 76ers. In that regard, it is very early to draw any conclusions after two preseason games. But, in political speak, the early returns aren't very encouraging.

Had it not been for a huge fourth-quarter comeback and a 25-foot three by Scottie Wilbekin with 1.3 seconds left to give the Sixers a 115-114 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers last night, the sloppy performance put out by Brown's team would have been a lot harder for the coach to swallow.

As was the case Tuesday in Washington, the opponent, this time the Cleveland Cavaliers, got more open shots than contested ones and ran the floor with ease, especially in the first half. But the Sixers did hold them to only 49 points in the second half. The Sixers scored 61 after intermission, including 41 in the fourth quarter.

However, without LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, the Cavs torched the Sixers for 65 points in the first half, while making 54 percent of their shots.

An impressive debut by rookie Jahlil Okafor in Washington on Tuesday night, when he scored 12 points in 17 minutes, was followed by a less than stellar one last night, as he scored 12 points again, this time in 21 minutes, but shot only 4-for-12 from the floor and corralled only three boards. He did make all but one of his five free throws, an encouraging sign after a dismal showing there last season at Duke and during the summer leagues.

"Jahlil was on a minute restriction by our medical staff," Brown said. "He had some soreness in his knee. There's nothing to worry about. I think the combination of us trying to move him forward, which I was going to do, I didn't just to be safe.

"It's a funny thing, because you want to the crowd at home to see Jahlil play. He just couldn't. We had to honor the medical people's wishes, and I did."

Said Okafor: "There's nothing to worry about. It's just a little soreness and it's preseason, so coach goes overboard with making sure we're healthy. I was decent tonight. I got off to a sloppy start. I think I was just rushing it because I was excited to play in the stadium for the first time. The second half I slowed myself down and let the game come to me more."

Jerami Grant paced the Sixers with 19 points, while Isaiah Canaan scored 16. Robert Covington had 12, and Nerlens Noel chipped in 10 and pulled down 15 rebounds.

Jared Cunningham led the Cavs with 31.

Injury update

Brett Brown had said since the beginning of training camp that both Tony Wroten and Kendall Marshall, probably the two leading candidates to be the Sixers' starting point guard this season, wouldn't be ready until about the end of this month. Last night, the coach seemed a little less hopeful in his words.

"Kendall and Wroten are every bit of a month away, minimum," Brown said. With the way the Sixers cautiously approach injured players' returning, that would seem to mean the timetable for the guards returning has gotten a bit longer. Both suffered torn ACLs last January.

Brown said Pierre Jackson, who is nursing a sore groin, might be about eight to 10 days away, while shooting guard Nik Stauskas is another two weeks out with a stress reaction in his right tibia.

McConnell debuts

Yet another point guard, T.J. McConnell, debuted with the team last night after being sidelined since the middle of training camp with a sprained left foot.

"It's as good as it's going to get," McConnell said of his foot. "I have to get out there and show myself. I'm not going to impress anyone by sitting on the bench."

McConnell had six points and four assists in 21 minutes.

Brown compared McConnell to Cleveland's Matthew Dellavedova, whom Brown coached with the Australian national team.

"I've gotten that comparison, and, trust me, that's a compliment, the way he played last year," McConnell said. "I'm just trying be myself. That's nothing against him. I would love to be the player that he is, but I'm trying to find my way and make it here however I can. To be compared to him is an honor."

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