The Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers are playing live on the NBA schedule on Monday and the matchup is live from the Wells Fargo Center at 7 pm ET as the Sixers host the Cavs and it comes as LeBron James is injured and that means Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving will have to step up in this eastern conference game.
The Cavaliers have been struggling overall this season and they are second in the central division with a 19-15 record. The team now is dealing with LeBron James being out of the lineup and that could last for two weeks. The team comes in after a loss against the Mavericks and they now have an easy opponent in the Sixers. The team needs a win, as they host one of the best teams in the league on Wednesday with the Houston Rockets coming to town.
James had been playing well before getting injured, but this time off could be big for him in the long run. Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving now need to step up more and it will be on their shoulders to keep the team afloat as time goes on. Love comes in after scoring 30 points against the Mavericks, while Tristan Thompson led the way with 11 rebounds in the game against Dallas.
The Cavaliers have not been able to play consistently with LeBron out and overall they are not where they want to be this season. The team is averaging 100 points per game and they are in the middle of the pack in scoring offense and scoring defense and they are ranked 25th in rebounds per game as well. Philly only has four wins and somehow they are actually worse than the Knicks and this is a good chance for the Cavs to bounce back.
James is leading the team in scoring with 25 points per game, but when he comes back he will have to do even more to get the Cavs in better position for the playoffs. As it stands right now the Cavs don't look like title contenders, but the trade deadline can help that and James getting healthy will of course make a major difference as well. The team is about to embark on a west coast trip and those will; be tough games, including against the Kings, Suns, Lakers and Clippers, with the final two being a back to back.
The Sixers come into the game after a loss against the Clippers and they will next play the Bucks after the matchup with the Cavs. The team is ranked last in scoring and last in assist per game and they are second to last in defensive scoring this season and they are just 4-28 overall.
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