Buddy Hield, Sixers snap Cavaliers 9-game winning streak

The undermanned Philadelphia76ers cooled down the hottest team in the NBA with a big 123-121road win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.

Newcomer Buddy Hield continuedhis strong play since joining the Sixers, leading the waywith 24 points and 8 assistsincluding two big threes under five minutes to go to keep the Cavsat bay. He shot an efficient 9-of-13 from the field with 5triples.

However, it took an endgamescare for the Sixers to pull out the win after a late 9-0 Cavs runin a 58-second span that cut the lead to just one point. TyreseMaxey made just one of two free throws to leave the door open forCleveland, but Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland were not able toconvert their attempts on the other end, allowing the Sixers toescape.

The victory was particularlyremarkable for the Sixers, who are currently just 2-8 over theirlast 10 games without the reigning MVP Joel Embiid, who isrecovering from surgery to repair his left knee. It took a teameffort for the Sixers against a streaking Cavs team, who had wontheir last nine games and 17 of their last 18.

Supplementing Hield were KellyOubre and Maxey, who had 24 and 22 points respectively. New SixerCameron Payne chipped in 15 points as Philadelphia had six playersin double figures.

Mitchell, who will be heading toIndianapolis next week for the All-Star Game, delivered anotherAll-Star performance with 36 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds,while Garland added 21 points and 9 assists in a losing effort forthe Cavs.