Cavs' epic comeback falls short, Sixers climb to 3rd in East with 13th straight win

LeBron James just might be human after all, as he couldn't carry the Cleveland Cavaliers to an improbable comeback win two nights in a row.

Down by as many as 30 points Friday against the Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland chipped away in the second half thanks in large part to James and even had a chance to tie it in the dying moments, when Robert Covington fouled James on a 3-point shot.

Trailing by three with 1.9 seconds left, the four-time MVP headed to the charity stripe, where he sank the first shot, missed the second, and intentionally missed the third. Larry Nance Jr. managed to get his fingers on the ball near the rim and just missed the tip-in as the Sixers held on for the 132-130 victory.

James led his team with 44 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists in 40 minutes of action. He scored 35 of those points in the second half and 16 in the final frame alone, continuing his run as the league's most clutch player. This, after rallying back from a 16-point deficit with six minutes left to defeat the Washington Wizards on Thursday night, with James scoring or assisting on eight of Cleveland's final nine made field goals.

Meanwhile, Ben Simmons paced the 76ers with a monster triple-double of 27 points, 15 rebounds, and 13 assists to lead them to their 13th straight win. With the triumph, the Sixers not only knotted the season series with the Cavs at 2-2, but they also overtook them for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference with just three regular-season affairs remaining.