On March 17, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued, Philadelphia challenged the Cavaliers away, the game was full of twists and turns, Philadelphia led by 13 points at halftime, but the third quarter suddenly collapsed, losing 18 points in the single quarter and being overtaken, the final quarter showdown, the two teams fought until the last moment, Philadelphia seized the opportunity, and finally won the Cavaliers 118-114 to win the 42nd game of the season.
Philadelphia, who are no. 3 in the East and just one game away from the No. 2 Bucks, have had their performances ups and downs recently, losing to the Nuggets last game. The Cavaliers have been doing well this season, finishing 6th in the East and are very promising to make it straight into the playoffs. In both first encounters, the Cavaliers lost to Philadelphia.
Embiid and Harden led the team, Philadelphia started well, soon widened the point difference to double digits, the Cavaliers' two suspensions did not work well, Philadelphia once led by 16 points, fortunately the Cavaliers improved at the end of the quarter, chasing only 7 points in the first quarter. Embiid was very efficient in the first half, 9 of 11 in the half, 20 points and 11 rebounds, Maxi and Harris were also hot, Harden only had four shots in the half, very relaxed, and Philadelphia led by 13 points at halftime.
As the Cavaliers fought again, the Cavaliers began to erupt, quickly hitting a 9-2 mini-climax that narrowed the point gap to six points. Embiid stopped the bleeding 2+1, but the Cavaliers' momentum of chasing points was still fierce, and the point difference remained around 5 points. At the end of the quarter, the Cavaliers broke out again, and after Le Ver hit a three-pointer, the Cavaliers completed the rebound, and this quarter Philadelphia only scored 13 points, while the Cavaliers bombed 31 points, from 13 points behind to lead by five points to end the third quarter.
Philadelphia, which collapsed in the third quarter, played a wave of 6-0 rebound in the final quarter, and the game was once again in a tug-of-war, with the two teams alternately leading, and with 4 and a half minutes left in the game, Philadelphia led 103-101. The two teams were still clinging to the score in the decider moment, and with 71 seconds left in the game, Maxi hit a three-pointer and Philadelphia led by four points. Harden hit all four free throws in key moments, Philadelphia led by 4 points, Harris stupid foul let LeVert make 2+1, fortunately there was no hit in the extra penalty, Maxi made two free throws, and Philadelphia narrowly won the Cavaliers 118-114.
Embiid exploded wildly, shooting a big double-double with 35 points, 17 rebounds on 13-of-19 shooting, as well as five assists. Harden had 21 points and 11 assists on 5-of-12 shooting, a key four free throws to seal the win, Harris picked up with 19 points and five rebounds, and Maxie 25 points, but Philadelphia's bench players performed poorly, adding up to only 13 points, while the Cavaliers' bench score was 41 points, winning a total of 28 points.