Philadelphia beat Cleveland by a score of 96-83, even catching some fans off guard. "We knew the lines in Vegas listed us as favorites," said Philadelphia coach Bob. "And we knew we had a great shot going in, but really expected a more competitive game. I don't know whether we were really that good or whether they had something else on their minds. Whatever, we're thrilled to get this kind of win over an excellent team like Cleveland."

Said Cleveland star Courtney, "Coach kept yelling at us 'you know you're better than that,' and he was right. We just didn't have the intensity or whatever today, and it showed in our game. The good thing is that we know we can't play much worse than we did out there, and that we could have won if we'd played as good as we're capable of playing."

Philadelphia was led by Blunt (14 points, 8 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, a block), Eatmon (15 points, 8 boards, 2 assists), Palacios (13 points, 2 assists, a steal). Cleveland was led by Courtney (21 points, 8 assists, 3 steals), Martin (25 points, 0 assists, a steal, a block), Berry (16 points, a steal, a block).

Philadelphia are now 10-8 with the victory. They remain at #1 in the Atlantic and remain at #3 overall in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland stand at 8-9 and 6-3 at home with today's loss. They hold at #3 in the Central and fall to #8 overall in the Eastern Conference.

box score Philadelphia roster Cleveland roster