PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers were looking to continue the hot start to the James Harden era as they welcomed the No. 6 seed Cleveland Cavaliers into the Wells Fargo Center. It was the first real quality opponent the Sixes have faced with Harden so this was a good test.
The Cavaliers certainly put them to the test all game long as they built a lead as large as 21 in the first quarter. They jumped on the Sixers early as they went to a zone defense, which continues to be an issue for Philadelphia, but the Sixers were able to rally behind Tyrese Maxey and Harden and knock off the young Cavs 125-119.
Maxey had 33 and five assists for Philadelphia, Harden had 25 and 11 assists, and Joel Embiid had 22 points and nine rebounds. Tobias Harris added 15 points while Shake Milton had 11 and Georges Niang had 17 off the bench.
Here are the player grades following an impressive win at home: