Recap: 76ers 108, Cavs 97 (Or, No Shame In Losing)

The 76ers came into the Q and played like a good NBA team with legitimate superstars in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. That’s what they are at this point in The Process. They have a 2.6 net rating, which is good for ninth in the league. And, they have the fourth ranked defense in the league.  The Cavs shot just 41.4% from the floor on them and went 9-32 from deep.

Offensively, the Sixers are plenty decent. They play a score by committee style game with lots of passing. They hit 44.4% from the floor and dropped 10 3s tonight. Both teams took great care of the ball turning it over just nine times each making this game a treat to watch. The real story of the night though was the the performance of Cleveland’s bench against Philly’s starters.

When the game was done just two of Cleveland’s first five managed to score more than ten points, Rodney Hood and LeBron James. All five of the Sixers’ starters scored more than ten and four of them scored more then 15.

The difference between the starters showed quickly, as the 76ers led by as many as eight in the first quarter. They were red hot from 3-land hitting five of their first six heaves. The Cavs had trouble getting down the court to contest the 3-ball. Robert Covington leaked out twice for 3s  with Joel Embiid firmly controlling the boards by himself. J.J. Reddick put up nine in the quarter on his way to 22 points.

The Wine & Gold managed to hang around because they have LeBron James. James matched Reddick’s nine in the quarter on his way to 30 for the evening. James had a near triple-double with nine boards and eight assists. At one point in the first, the King had back-to-back and-1s. One of them was a candidate for crossover of the season.

With Robert Covington and Joel Embiid trapping him after a Tristan Thompson screen, the King saw fit to split the trap with a behind the back dribble. And, just for extra measure, he threw it between TT’s legs  because “why do it the easy way, and TT needs to be in a highlight that’s not him being owned by Emiid this game.”

https://twitter.com/World_Wide_Wob/status/969383566697213959

TT was beat by Embiid nearly the whole night, and his inability to contain him contributed to the 76ers getting the lead early. Tristan had six points and 11 boards, while Embiid put up 17 (7-18 shooting) to go with six assists and 14 boards. We’ll come back to TT later though.

The Cavs could have been done early in the evening if it wasn’t for the bench mob coming in with 3:24 in the first and holding the Sixers to just four points the rest of the quarter, while scoring seven themselves. That put the Cavs down just 32-29 after one. The bench was clutch.

They outscored the Sixers’ bench 37-25. As soon as Kyle Korver and Larry Nance Jr. came in, they started to double Emibiid when he’d get the ball down low. The first time they did it Embiid tossed it out into the backcourt for a turnover. Korver did a fantastic job the whole evening crashing and recovering to stop 3s when Embiid touched the ball.  He finished the night with nine points on 3-7 shooting from deep.

Nance was the brightest spot though. He had 13 points on 5-7 shooting to go with seven boards, three blocks, and one steal. He quickly noticed Embiid is a bit shy about leaving the paint and over eager to help his teammates when guys penetrate. Nance regularly hopped out or cut according to wherever Embiid was at. Nance also had a pretty steal on him which he took coast to coast to tie the game at 36 in the second quarter.

Larry Nance Jr. with the swipe and slam! #AllForOne

📺: @NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/G8NIrrrv6E

— NBA (@NBA) March 2, 2018

The teams traded baskets for much of the second but in a “smash each other with rocks” kinda way. The Cavs had to get a little LeBron heavy. The King either scored or assisted on five of the Cavs six made baskets during the final seven minutes before halftime to be down, 59-56.

In the third quarter, the Cavs managed 15 points while the Sixers put up just 18. Both teams played pretty good defense. Neither hit a 3-pointer. The Cavs continued to try and get the ball out of Embiid’s hand when Korver and Nance shared the floor. Nance continued to exploit Embiid’s over helping, knocking a dunk down and hitting an uncontested jumper. Ben Simmons scored 10 points all near the basket. His post game baffled Cedi Osman a couple times. Simmons finished the night with a LeBron-esque 18 points, eight assists, and nine rebounds.

The Cavs entered the fourth quarter down 77-71. With LeBron on the bench, they couldn’t score. Philly extended their lead to 13 over the first three minutes. The Cavs made their push though on the King’s back when he checked back in. They ripped off a 14-5 run to get within two, 87-85, with 5:22 left. James assisted on two 3s during the run and added four points of his own. Kyle Korver later hit a 3 with with 2:25 to go to bring the Cavs within one after he sprinted into a Larry Nance screen to get free. Unfortunately, Dario Saric came down the floor and bombed a 3 from the corner after LeBron left him to stop Ben Simmon’s from getting an instant layup. Saric even yelled at the Cavs bench. He finished with 16 points and nine boards.

Embiid followed the Saric 3 with a heavily contested turnaround jumper from the baseline to put the game out of reach for the Cavs.

Love how cocky the Sixers are. Saric hits a 3-pointer and stares down the Cavs bench….then Joel Embiid his fade-away jumper and points at Cavs fan pic.twitter.com/chL09TBcQ4

— Gifdsports (@gifdsports) March 2, 2018

Gripes

1. Tristan Thompson should no longer be playing. Embiid had TT shoved under the rim the first time he touched the ball in the 1st. Tristan fouled him. Embiid established position against him all night and TT couldn’t do anything about it.
2. TT also decided he could be an offensive player for this game. Trying to be like Joel, he attempted a jump shot against him early in the first. It was swatted. A little later, he decided to drive against Amir Johnson. Again, swatted.
3. TT’s complete inability to dunk or dribble after catching the ball without gathering killed him this game too. Embiid often left TT to help out his teammates, but anytime Tristan caught the ball he took too long to do anything with it and Embiid was already back in position to defend.
4. Jeff Green, Rodney Hood, and George Hill didn’t great games, but they weren’t actively hurting the team. They combined to go 9-30 from the field for 23 points. Part of the issue with these guys is that they need to get into rhythm. That’s a little hard to do when the team doesn’t always run the most coherent offense. Hood showed some ability to penetrate and shoot off the drive, which the team will need if they plan on beating the Warriors. George hill had a nasty dunk you can check out here.
5. Jordan Clarkson had ten points and four assists. He could of had more assists. He’s not always reading the game though. He’s deciding he’s going to score or going to pass before defenses do anything. There were several times he didn’t find Korver when Korver was wide open.

Hypes

1. The Larry Nance hype is real. He hung with Embiid tonight and did not get had at all. His defense, even on the turnaround Embiid hit to seal the game, was impeccable. Offensively, he is reading the game at an extremely high level. He knows exactly where to move in order to be open when his man looks away. His ability to can a fifteen foot jumper keeps guys from playing free safety when they have to cover him. If his jumper continues to evolve, he will be another pick and pop option for LeBron to use.
2. LeBron played another stellar game. He took control when he needed to and made sure to get enough guys involved to keep everyone active.
3. He made the bench guys much better and the bench subsequently made the defense a lot better. Their willingness to help each other out when beat is awesome to watch. Kyle Korver covers an absurd amount of ground for being an older guy. He may not be a stopper, but he gets to the exact textbook spot on defense whenever he has to rotate.

This game was a fun watch. It’s hard to think about the Sixers as a legit team, but they are. The Cavs played solid and if a few more shots fell for them, they could have easily won. If a few of the 3s Philly hit early on didn’t fall, Cleveland could have won. If Tyronn Lue didn’t play the starters as much as he did, Cleveland may have won. The have a chance to pick up a W Saturday when they host Denver.