CLEVELAND _ Rumors that Philadelphia is a possible destination for LeBron James if he elects to become a free agent this summer may be just speculation driven by a rabid fan base now riding the wave of the Eagles' Super Bowl victory.
James did admit that three billboards rented on Interstate 480 by a Chester, Pa.-based company to try to lure him to the 76ers were flattering. Coming on the heels of that was a rumor that James had checked out private schools in the area over the All-Star break.
But if the 76ers wanted to show James they have the young talent with which to build a title contender, they made a decent pitch Thursday night at Quicken Loans Arena.
With their offense in a funk, at times regressing to the isolation game of old, the Cavs never led and fell, 108-97.
The 76ers (33-27) won for the ninth time in their last 12 games, a stretch that included a seven-game winning streak that was snapped Sunday in Washington.
The Cavs (36-25) slipped to 6-3 in their last nine games, 4-3 with four new players acquired at the trade deadline. They saw their string of 11 consecutive victories over the 76ers snapped. The Cavs had also won 14 of the previous 15 games between the teams.
James moved ahead of Michael Jordan for the fourth-most 20-point games in league history by boosting his total to 927 with a 30-point effort. James added nine rebounds and seven assists.
Larry Nance Jr. added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Cavs.
The 76ers had six players in double figures, led by J.J. Redick with 22 points, Ben Simmons with 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists and Joel Embiid with 17 points and 14 rebounds.
In the third quarter, the Cavs scored 15 points on 7-of-22 shooting. Many of their attempts went in and out, as they did most of the night. The 76ers used an 8-0 run, six of those by rookie of the year candidate Simmons, to go ahead 71-62. Heading into the final period, the Cavs trailed 77-71.
The 76ers remained in command, pushing the advantage to 13 in the fourth quarter. But the Cavs fought back, cutting the deficit to 87-83 with 6:11 left on a Rodney Hood 3-pointer, a Jordan Clarkson jumper and a Kyle Korver 3 on his bobblehead night.
The Cavs sliced it to one (95-94) on a Korver 3 with 2:25 to go, but Dario Saric hit from long range to push the 76ers' margin to four with 2:09 remaining. Then, after a missed layup by Korver with 1:48 left, Embiid hit a jumper to make it 100-94 with 1:28 left. Redick added a jumper with 56 seconds to go and James missed with 42 seconds remaining to seal the Cavs' fate.
Tempers flared in the final seconds when Clarkson was called for a technical foul and then ejected after he threw the ball into Saric's back after a Saric dunk.
One game after becoming the first player in NBA history to reach 30,000 career points, 8,000 rebounds and 8,000 assists, James came up with another play for his all-time highlight reel. And this one may have been unintentional.
With about eight minutes left in the first quarter, James dribbled behind his back and passed through the legs of teammate Tristan Thompson. James followed that up with a driving layup, although he missed the ensuing free throw.
The Cavs were without starting shooting guard J.R. Smith, suspended one game for detrimental conduct. Smith, who has started 213 of his 223 games with the Cavs, was replaced in the lineup by Hood, acquired from the Jazz at the Feb. 8 trade deadline.
The 76ers led by 10 in the second quarter, but the Cavs went on a 9-2 run to close out the half and trailed 59-56.
The Cavs hit just 9 of 32 (28 percent) 3-point shots against a defense that came in second in the league in 3-point percentage allowed (.339).
