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Well, that was ugly now wasn't it? The Sixers beat the Cavaliers 86-79 on Sunday night. Kyrie Irving had one of his worst games in a Cavalier uniform, scoring only nine points on 14 shots with four assists and five turnovers. Whenever I have to actually stylistically write out Kyrie's point total in letters as opposed to using numbers, the Cavaliers' chances of winning drop significantly. On the plus side, the Cavaliers did allow fewer than 101 points for the first time this season.
Also, the bench did look marginally better, going from absolutely catastrophic calamity to merely useless and ineffective. Anderson Varejao continued his All-Star campaign with 14 points and 15 rebounds, and his frontcourt mate Tristan Thompson had his most effective game this season in my opinion, finishing with 14 points and 13 rebounds for his second double-double in as many nights.
Alonzo Gee also had one of his best nights for the Cavs, leading the team in scoring with 17 on 6-11 shooting while adding four rebounds, two assists and two steals. However, the Cavs were doomed by their backcourt's shooting woes. As a team they shot 35.7% from the field, with the biggest offender being Dion Waiters and his 2-13 performance.
Waiters does seem to be gaining more confidence when going to the hoop though, which should lead to fewer games like this. C.J. Miles also struggled in his first game back since being benched a week ago, going 1-8 from the field. At this point, it's really hard for me to come up with excuses for his play.
For the Sixers, Evan Turner got Michigan week off to a strong start for Buckeye fans by scoring a quiet and efficient 19 points to go along with nine assists. Jrue Holiday had a solid 14 points and nine assists, and Nick Young gave them quality minutes off the bench by scoring 13 points and only providing us with one hilarious moment where the ball just seemed to magically fly over his head as he rose up for a three.
The Cavaliers' next game is also against Philadelphia on Wednesday. This time they will be at home, so hopefully that will help them end this six-game losing streak. I will now erase this entire game from my memory because I do not want my eyes to continue bleeding.