LEBRON SITS, CAVS LOSE TO SIXERS AT HOME

Cleveland lost at home for only the second time all season on Wednesday night, failing in their bid to tie the 1985-1986 for the best home record in NBA history at 40-1.  Then again, they didn’t exactly try that hard either with LeBron James, Delonte West and Joe Smith all out of the lineup for some rest before the team begins their postseason series with Detroit.  Despite missing the presumptive NBA MVP and a couple of other key players, the Cavs competed throughout before dropping a 111-110 overtime decision to the Philadelphia 76ers.

The absence of LeBron and company made for some strange names at the top of the Cavs scoring list.  Cleveland was led by reserve guard Daniel Gibson’s 28 points, while Wally Szczerbiak added 21 points and Sasha Pavlovic 20.  Darnell Jackson was the only other player to score in double digits for Cleveland with 15 points.  The Sixers were paced by Andre Miller with 30 points followed by Andre Iguodala with 24 and Thaddeus Young with 20.  Reserves Lou Williams (19) and Reggie Evans (10) also posted double digit score totals.

The Sixers are in the playoffs, but Andre Iguodala isn’t happy with their recent form despite breaking a six game losing streak:

"Getting a win was important, but we didn't play good basketball.  If the team plays the way we've been playing, we're going to get swept. We have to look at ourselves, step it up and cut out a lot of the BS. We've been a little selfish out there, not as far as guys trying score, but we've got to collectively be one unit."

The fact that the Sixers’ starters had to compete tooth and nail with the Cavs reserves can’t be particularly heartening for them, but according to Cleveland’s Wally Szczerbiak it underscores just how good a team they are:

"It just shows how good our team is. We have guys who don't even see the floor and when they get a chance to show what they can do, they are pretty darn good basketball players."

Leading scorer Gibson said it was a strange experience being on the court while arguably the best player in the NBA in LeBron James and other starters watched in street clothes:

"You look over there and they're all dressed up and it's kind of weird. It was a Twilight Zone kind of thing. But those guys were our biggest fans out there. It just shows what type of team we have and the type of chemistry we've built."

Before the game LeBron addressed the crowd at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena thanking them for their support this season before concluding:

"We're going to bring y'all that championship.”

Cleveland will host Detroit in their first round series which begins on Saturday.  Philadelphia will take on the Orlando Magic starting this Sunday, with the Sixers traveling to Florida for the first two games.