Philadelphia 76ers can’t overreact after defeating Cleveland Cavaliers

As impressive as the Philadelphia 76ers looked at times against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, there’s no reason to overreact on the win.

A few months ago, the thought of the Philadelphia 76ers being in position to enter the playoffs as the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference seemed like it would provide basketball fans with a good laugh, but here they are with three games remaining on their schedule. At the moment, the Sixers are one of the hottest teams in the NBA thanks to an impressive 13-game winning streak, and while there’s plenty of reasons to be excited over the direction this team is heading after Friday’s 132-130 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, it’s important not to overreact too much.

Yes, Philadelphia defeating a team like LeBron James and Cleveland was a huge accomplishment since both teams are battling for that No. 3 seed at the moment. Not to mention, there’s a reason why the Cavaliers have earned trips to the NBA Finals in each of the last three seasons, as James always manages to bring the best out of his teammates, especially once the playoffs get underway.

However, Friday’s game against the Cavaliers made it clear that the Sixers may have gotten lucky when it comes to escaping with the two-point win since it was their own fault that Cleveland was able to work their way back into the contest. As bad as it sounds, there was still concerns over Philadelphia finding a way to blow this game against Cleveland when they were up 30 points at one point in the second quarter, and that’s exactly what happened in the second half.

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At the end of the day, the Sixers have no excuses for allowing this game to end up as close as it was against the Cavaliers, and a performance like they displayed in the second half will hurt them big time in the playoffs if it happens again. Without question, defeating the defending Eastern Conference champions is quite an accomplishment for a young team like Philadelphia, but also there’s no reason to get too overexcited about the win since Friday made it clear they still have a lot to work on, especially when it comes to closing out games.