Cleveland's leader and his squad are frustrated as the team could never close the door on the Eastern Conference race. Now they're left looking up to Boston, but there's still plenty of time for them get over their funk and grab home court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs. First, the Cavaliers will need to take down Philadelphia. The 76ers have entered a rough patch themselves after dropping four of their last six. Tipoff time is set for 7:30 PM Eastern time on friday night and the game can be seen on CSN Philadelphia and FSN Ohio.
76ers (28-47, 3rd Atlantic)
Philadelphia is likely in the process of tanking once again, but they've actually enjoyed a better season than recent years. Still, struggles from the past are cropping up again with inconsistent offense. In their past six games, they've finished below and above 100 points in alternating fashion. They'll have an opportunity to get over it with a slumping Cavaliers defense.
A number of stars for the 76ers will continue to be sidelined in this game. Shooting guard Gerald Henderson (9.5 ppg) will likely be unavailable as he deals with a hip injury. Tiago Splitter is still struggling to get back to the court as he continues to deal with a calf injury. He's only participated in one game this season.
Cavaliers (47-27, 1st Central)
Its been a very dismal stretch for the defending champions. They've been outscored by over 10 points on average in their past five games with a defense that has given up 112 points during that stretch. LeBron James (26 ppg, 8.4 rpg) has voiced his frustration after falling for a third straight time against Chicago on Thursday night.
Point guard Kyrie Irving (25.2 ppg, 5.7 apg) led the way with 39 points in their previous meeting with the 76ers. He's been very strong offensively with the exception of being limited to eight points against San Antonio. Take away that outlier and the guard has averaged nearly 30 points in those five other contests.
Despite the struggles, Cleveland is still favored by a booming 9.5 points and the total O/U is set at 216 points. Philadelphia is 17-5 against the spread in their last 22 meetings against the Cavaliers.
