There's a quote in Bennett Miller's sports drama Moneyball, where a radio host says "you can play these games as many times over, no one will win as many in a row - there's an element of randomness to it."

The last two Cavalier contests have clearly been the poorest brand of basketball we've seen all year, yet still, the streak is alive. If your co-worker told you tomorrow morning that the Cavs scraped across a win against Philly, it would probably make sense. I mean, they have three all-star caliber players: Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey. Cleveland is rolling though, they have won against top teams like the Warriors and Lakers.

The thing is, the Sixer big three combined for 0 points. None of them stepped on the court. Philadelphia started two quality role players in Caleb Martin and Kelly Oubre Jr., a 38-year-old Kyle Lowry, Jared McCain - an undersized guard that was drafted outside the lottery and a big who last played in the NBA 6 years ago. Nevertheless, with 3 minutes to go, the Cavs only held a 3 point lead.

These 3 minutes were all they needed to show how good they can be when everything is clicking. When you're a great team, sometimes you simply win because you've been in these situations, even on off nights or when things are not going as planned. There's a certain momentum, you could feel it when watching the game, an expectation with this group's culture - they were going to find a way to get it done. Regardless of whether they were playing a dominant starting five or this Sixers roster that looked like leftovers from three days ago's dinner.

That line about "an element of randomness" captures this paradox perfectly. No team can truly account for all the variables, yet the Cavs pulled it out as almost a mechanical habit of winning. On a night where both Mobley was fighting an illness and Allen was banged up, they were never able to capitalize on the five undersized players Nick Nurse was forced to put on the court.

Cleveland leaned on their backcourt tonight, as they have the past two weeks. Early in the season, both Garland and Mitchell have brought home player-of-the-week awards. Tonight, Darius had 25 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds while Donovan flirted with a triple-double, scoring 23, grabbing 13 rebounds and dishing out 9 assists. More importantly, he dominated those last 3 minutes.

He knocked down 3 shots from beyond the arc in that time, adding a driving layup in the mix as well. The dagger was made on Jared McCain, who was having a career night (34 PTS). He had him coming off a switch, started moving downhill to the right and once McCain had all his momentum going in one direction, Mitchell pulled back, Jared hits the hardwood, Donovan squares his shoulders, rises up and laces the step-back three.

Poetry in motion. Game over. 13 in a row.

13-0.