The Cavaliers went to the Saturday night game at the Wells Fargo Center with a record of 12-21 and nine players available.
Although the Sixers should have dispatched the Cavs on paper, they lost 13 points in the second quarter. They overcame that deficit in the second half, but they never managed to overcome Cleveland.
Joel Embiid missed a baseline jump in the final possession of the Sixers’ regulation, sending the game into overtime.
“… This is my chance, and I’m working on it,” said Embiid. “It’s a shame I missed it. So what? You move on, learn from it. The next time there is such an opportunity, I’m sure I’ll make it.”
Cleveland scored the first five points of the extra session and held the Sixers with a 112-109 victory, leaving the Sixers to 22-12.
Embiid led the team with 42 points, 13 rebounds and six assists. Ben Simmons scored 24 points from 11 of 17 shots, eight assists and seven rebounds.
The Sixers will play the Pacers on Monday in their penultimate game before the All-Star break. Here are the notes on Saturday’s loss:
Feeling the absence of Harris
Furkan Korkmaz started in place of Tobias Harris, who left with a bruise on his right knee. It was clear that Sixers did not have a real third scoring option, as Embiid and Simmons combined to score 33 of Sixers’ 47 points in the first half, throwing 11 to 20 off the ground. His teammates scored 4 out of 16 field goals. Seth Curry never found his shot, missing 12 of his 13 shots in the game.
“Not really,” said coach Doc Rivers when asked if he was concerned about Curry. “I just think that snipers shoot and go through small stretches. I don’t think he’s been very consistent since he came back from COVID. I heard that other players came and went like that, too … They told us to keep playing with him, and that is what we are doing ”.
Instead of being able to post Harris to a minor striker or give him the ball in advantageous pick-and-roll situations, the Sixers depended on their two All-Stars. That is one of many reasons why the team expects Harris to be released to return soon.
“It’s almost 20 and 10,” said Danny Green. “You miss him, especially another perimeter pitcher, another top scorer, another guy who can get to the free-throw line, a bigger guy who can defend a little and recover. We are outdated tonight. We definitely missed you tonight. I hope he comes back soon. Regardless of who we are on the field, who is healthy or injured, we have to go out and play for 48 minutes. There are no excuses. we have to find ways to win. “
Mike Scott took over from Korkmaz to open the second half and played decently, scoring five points in the third period and providing greater defensive solidity. Tyrese Maxey returned to the rotation at the end of the third quarter with Rivers trying to buy some rest for Simmons and Embiid before the decisive moment.
“Anyone with speed or pace, or someone who plays hard,” said Rivers of his decision to play with Maxey. “I really thought he did that. I thought he was really good. You can see that he hasn’t played in a while with some of the things he has done, but this is one of those games that you are just researching. I thought Mike Scott gave us a big boost in the third quarter. He has a minute restriction, so we use all of his minutes up, unfortunately. I thought he would have helped us down the stretch as well. “
With Korkmaz in the line of three free throws and the Sixers losing by one point with 6.6 seconds left, the team looked set to enter the last quarter with an advantage. However, Korkmaz missed two of the three foul shots, and Collin Sexton (28 points out of 11 out of 27 shots) converted a clearance into his last mistake. Shake Milton (11 points, six rebounds) closed the game on Korkmaz.
The zone cannot solve everything
The Sixers became a zone at the beginning of the second period when Simmons and Matisse Thybulle were at the top of the defense. Cleveland responded using its own zone, which meant that an NBA game had a rare handful of zone vs. minutes. zone.
Neither team gained a significant advantage during that period. Thybulle had a good time at both ends of the track, including a theft that led to a Simmons dunk and a three-point wing on the right wing.
Still, the Cavs were able to find the weak spot in the area several times, and the Sixers’ attack failed to consistently manage open shots.
The Cavs had quite a successful transition at the start, scoring 15 break points in the first 15 minutes, and the Sixers’ neglect certainly didn’t help their cause. In general, the Sixers lacked energy and sharpness in the first half. Rivers asked for a time limit with 5:58 remaining in the second quarter and his team dropped 13, unhappy when the Sixers started another ball possession that seemed to have no clear goal.
A zone remains a sensible change of pace option for the team, but the occasions when it drastically changes the momentum of the game and lights up the Sixers as on January 31 against the Pacers are unusual.
Embiid back on track
Although Embiid missed a turnaround jump in the Sixers’ first possession, it was immediately obvious that throwing the ball at him was the team’s best bet to produce a good attack.
Rivers noted after the game on Thursday that he preferred that Embiid not actively try to draw fouls, but one can understand why it would be tempting to do that, given Embiid’s talent for doing so. Dealing legally with his size and ability is no easy task, and he is very good at exploring that fact.
The All-Star big shot hit 14 out of 16 from the foul line, the tenth consecutive game that he made 10 or more free-throw attempts. Embiid came in on Saturday with just 26.4% of a kick to the ground in his last three games, but he appears to be one of the NBA’s most fall-proof players.
The Cavs doubled up against Embiid more often in the second half, adopting the common strategy of asking other Sixers to beat them. Embiid mainly struck the right balance between moving to the open man and power through contact to score, when possible.
“I thought that, especially on Wednesday and in overtime, posting gave me a lot of looks,” said Embiid. “We scored a lot with that, whether it was me or me kicking the ball and (teammates) swinging. to the other side. It is difficult to continue doing this. It becomes easier for the other team to protect. Now, you have another perimeter threat like Tobias, where you can give him the ball, run a pick-and-roll – and also post it. I think that’s when we missed him a lot in the half-court attack. “
Simmons’ continued development as a top scorer on the crossbar was another positive result for the Sixers. Cleveland didn’t have the right people to deal with him, especially on a night when the team was so understaffed and Simmons had an attack mentality. He seems to be gaining comfort with his right jump hook, a shot he trains during his typical pre-game routine with assistant coach Sam Cassell. Powerful corridors and floats are now also part of your arsenal.
In previous seasons, Simmons used to worry more about getting past the post, scouring the floor for open cutters. Eventually, Rivers and the Sixers believe it could be a genuine multi-faceted post-casualty threat.
Simmons’ seven turns were the biggest drawback to his performance. He came back on top 13 times in the Sixers’ two losses this season to Cleveland.