Cavs survive pesky Sixers

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA

The Cleveland Cavaliers were pushed to the limit by the Philadelphia 76ers, and LeBron James doesn’t think that’s such a bad thing.

James scored 25 points, moving into 10th place on the NBA’s career list, and added 14 assists and eight rebounds as the unbeaten Cavaliers held off the winless 76ers 102-101 on Saturday night.

“It’s always great to have these kinds of games,” James said. “We will clean it up. It’s a great learning experience for us. I know we have room for improvement.”

Kevin Love added 20 points and 11 rebounds for the reigning champion Cavaliers, who improved to 6-0.

Coach Tyronn Lue wasn’t disappointed, either, that the result was so surprisingly close.

“We stayed poised,” Lue said. “We were tested tonight. Overall, I’m pleased to come out with a win when we had some adversity.”

Joel Embiid scored 22 points, making all four of his 3-point attempts, but the 76ers dropped to 0-5.

James passed Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon by converting a fast-break layup midway through the first quarter. Olajuwon finished his career with 26,946 points.

It looked to be an easy night for the Cavaliers at that point. But the 76ers nearly shocked them.

Channing Frye’s 3-pointer with 1:05 left gave the Cavaliers a 102-101 lead.

After a turnover by Philadelphia’s Sergio Rodriguez, J.R. Smith missed a 3 with 15 seconds left that would’ve clinched it. Philadelphia coach Brett Brown then called a timeout with 7.3 seconds remaining. The 76ers were trying to get the ball to Embiid, but they couldn’t and Gerald Henderson turned the ball over as he tried to get a shot off in the final seconds.