Philadelphia @ Cleveland preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 12, 2019 ) Cleveland 97, Philadelphia 98

The Philadelphia 76ers have hit a rough patch with losses in five of the last seven games and are in danger of getting swept on a three-game road trip. The 76ers will try to bounce back and salvage the finale of the trip when they visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.

Philadelphia, which edged Cleveland 98-97 at home on Tuesday, fell at Orlando 112-97 on Wednesday and could not get out of its own way in a 127-119 overtime setback at Oklahoma City on Friday in which it committed 32 personal fouls, leading to 41 free-throw attempts for the Thunder. "I think there has to be a better awareness of bonus stuff," 76ers coach Brett Brown told reporters. "I think there needs to be a better discipline of not taking swipes at things when you've got to show your hands." The Cavaliers followed up their loss at Philadelphia by dropping a 108-97 decision at home to the Miami Heat on Thursday but took some lessons from the setback. "That's a team we can learn from," Cleveland forward Kevin Love told reporters of the Heat. "They cut so well, they move the ball between Bam (Adebayo) and (Meyers) Leonard and their other big guys and they made a ton of assists. Their willingness to share the ball is something we can look at and feed off. Sometimes we get stuck."

TV: 3 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia, FS Ohio (Cleveland)

ABOUT THE 76ERS (7-5): Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons each fouled out on Friday and Josh Richardson finished with five fouls but the positive on the night came from center Joel Embiid. The All-Star sat out the second half of the back-to-back on Wednesday and looked refreshed while collecting 31 points and 12 rebounds against the Thunder. Embiid had his way with the Cleveland frontcourt in Tuesday's triumph, recording 27 points and 16 rebounds, and dunked for the go-ahead basket in the final minute.

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (4-7): Cleveland is 28th in the NBA in assists at an average of 20.2, and sharing the ball is a focus for the team moving forward. "The guys who can attack 1-on-1, we don't want to take that away, but that's never been a trademark of many of my teams, and most winning teams have high assist numbers," Cavaliers coach John Beilein told reporters. "So, they know that. And making an extra pass is going to be key, to see that. So, ball movement and player movement." Rookie point guard Darius Garland leads the team at an average of 3.5 assists and Cleveland totaled 18 on 36 made field goals in Thursday's setback.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. 76ers SG Furkan Korkmaz is 5-of-18 from the floor over the last two games, including 2-of-10 from beyond the arc.

2. Cavaliers PF Larry Nance Jr. aggravated a thumb injury on Thursday and is day-to-day.

3. Love owns seven double-doubles in 11 games but is shooting 34.9 percent from the floor over the last three contests.

PREDICTION: 76ers 106, Cavaliers 95