PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Paul George scored 30 points, Tyrese Maxey had 29 and the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 132-129 on Friday night to end a seven-game losing streak.

Cleveland lost its second straight to drop into a tie for the NBA lead with Oklahoma City at 36-8. Philadelphia is 16-27.

Donovan Mitchell scored 37 points for Cleveland, and Ty Jerome had a career-high 33, making all eight of his 3-point tries.

Philadelphia star center Joel Embiid missed his 10th straight game because of a left knee injury. He also was ruled out by coach Nick Nurse at Chicago on Saturday night.

Jerome’s second straight 3-pointer put Cleveland up 116-110 with 6:17 remaining, but the 76ers ran off 13 consecutive points to go up seven. The Cavaliers had the ball with a chance to tie it, but Jerome turned it over on an inbounds play.

Short-handed 76ers beat Cavaliers 132-129 to end 7-game losing streak | iNFOnews.ca — Philadelphia 76ers’ Paul George (8) shoots a 3-point shot over Cleveland Cavaliers’ Ty Jerome (2) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Jan. 24, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Kelly Oubre Jr. added 22 points for the 76ers. Darius Garland had 26 for Cleveland.

Takeaways

Cavaliers: Cleveland showed it can be beaten by a hot-shooting team from the perimeter.

76ers: Though it hasn’t happened much this season, Philadelphia proved it can win against the league’s top teams without Embiid.

Key moment

Eric Gordon hit a go-ahead 3-pointer for Philadelphia that made it 117-116, and capped a 13-0 run over 2:58 with another 3 with 3:19 to play to make it 123-116.

Key stat

The teams combined for 46 3-pointers.

Up next

Both teams are back in action Saturday night. Cleveland hosts the Rockets in a rematch of the Cavs’ 109-108 loss at Houston on Wednesday night. Philadelphia is at Chicago.