The Philadelphia 76ers look for their third consecutive victory to start the preseason when visiting the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday. Philadelphia opened its preseason with a 127-109 victory over Brooklyn and followed that with a 113-112 win over Cleveland with Tyrese Maxey leading the 76ers in scoring with 21 points. Joel Embiid scored 12 points and pulled down six rebounds.'
Philadelphia used most of its regulars in the victory over Cleveland with James Harden seeing 19 minutes of action and Joel Embiid playing 18 minutes. The 76ers are expected to start Harden, Embiid, along with Maxey, Tobias Harris and PJ Tucker. The top reserves coming off the bench will be Danuel House Jr, Montrezl Harrell, De'Anthony Melton, Georges Niang and Matisse Thybulle, giving the 76ers a very deep bench.
Cleveland has played just one game of its NBA preseason schedule, losing to Philadelphia 113-112. Donovan Mitchell was the leading scorer for Cleveland with 16 points in his preseason debut after being acquired during the off-season from Utah. Darius Garland scored 12 points for Cleveland and Kevin Love added nine points with a team-best seven rebounds. Evan Mobley did not play due to a sprained ankle.
Cleveland is expected to have a starting lineup led by high-scoring guard Donovan Mitchell. Jarrett Allen returns to start at one forward, while Evan Mobley will be another starter at forward. Isaac Okoro is expected to be the starting center and Darius Garland will join Mitchell as the Cavaliers starting backcourt. Kevin Love, Robin Lopez, Caris LeVert, Ricky Rubio and Cedi Osman will be reserves for most of the season but any one of the five could also start. Cleveland's roster has years of NBA experience.'
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