Recap: Cavs 105, Sixers 98 (or, Deep Sixed)

There were many potential factors working against a positive outcome for the Cavaliers as they took on the Sixers at the Q last night. Not only were they on the second night of a back to back (which hasn’t worked out well for the veterans who otherwise usually put the “win” in wine instead of the “old” in gold), but it was hard to even call it a second night since the team didn’t get home until nearly 4:30 am from their trip to Indiana. On top of that… it was a particularly tough loss to the Pacers which ended the Cavs’ record-tying 13 game winning streak, so it might be understandable if the team experienced a bit of a let down against a young and hungry Philly team.

They did get a bit of good news before the game when the Sixers announced that Joel Embiid would sit out to rest on the front end of their own back to back that continues in New Orleans tomorrow. Yet, that news was tempered by the late scratch of their own big man, Kevin Love, just prior to game time with a sore hip. One had to wonder (given his dearth of any sort of playing time this season) if Ante Zizic in the starting lineup was a virtual white flag move by Ty Lue. Coach claimed post game that he really just wanted to keep the second unit rotations preserved… yet the Big Z 2.0 experiment was pretty short-lived… and, probably just as well because the Cavs nearly got buried early.

Much like the night before against the Pacers, Cleveland dug themselves a sizable first quarter hole. Some of that had to do with the little used Zizic being asked to do his best Kevin Love imitation… but not really knowing where he should be on either end of the floor. While some of it also had to do with the Cavs playing sluggishly either from lack of sleep or lack of caring, and turning the ball over six times in the quarter alone. Regardless of the cause, the Cavs found themselves down 7-0, and then 13-3 before Jeff Green mercifully checked in for poor Ante. It got a little worse (18-7) before it got better, with Green, Dwayne Wade and Kyle Korver helped fuel a 16-6 run to pull the Cavs within a point to end the quarter down 24-23.

The Dinobot assault continued into the second, as Channing Frye and Cedi Osman joined the fray to help power a 15-2 run during the first five minutes of the period (that’s a 31-8 jag for those counting along at home). As they typically do, the second unit brought energy, enthusiasm and defensive hustle to the court to force the error-prone Sixers into some timely mistakes. What they did, more than the night before, however, was hit shots. Korver and Wade both had bounce back nights shooting the ball, and Cedi the Jedi even had the Force with him on this bank shot triple…

#TheFirstCedi bucket of the night. https://t.co/Oyyp0IvX7g

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 10, 2017

That was nice, but Osman’s defense was nicer, as he logged seven early minutes for a resting LeBron, snagging three boards and a steal, while forcing another turnover by drawing an offensive foul. He and Jeff Green really harassed the Sixers relentlessly during the run. Wade also had a Vintage block on Redick. But, just when it looked like LeBron would come in and shovel some dirt onto the Sixers, Ben Simmons started to get his passing game going. Behind Simmons, Dario Saric and newcomer Trevor Booker, Philly kept hitting the glass for second chance opportunities, and closed the gap to just one point with 95 seconds to go in the half. Fortunately, Jose Calderon nailed a three off an LBJ pass, and then found Jae Crowder on the next possession for a nifty alley oop to close the scoring with the Cavs up 52-46 at the half.

LeBron started to take over in the third quarter, scoring 12 of his game high 30 points on a series of drives and difficult finishes in traffic. He even caught this touchdown pass on a post route from JR Smith…

Nice little post pattern, fellas @KingJames @TheRealJRSmith https://t.co/I1Pt9Gpe5j

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 10, 2017

Yet, both JJ Redick (nine points in the quarter) and Robert Covington (eight points) started getting hot from distance for the Sixers, as the Cavs allowed the shooters to get in rhythm. Philly was able to keep the game in reach with their perimeter shooting, but by also turning the Cavs over seven times in the period (something they had cleaned up with zero in the second). The Sixers closed it to three on a Covington triple, but an uncontested Channing Frye drive sent the Cavs went into the fourth leading 78-73.

The final quarter started much as the last one had finished… with the Cavs making mistakes and Philly looking to deep six the Cavs from deep. The Sixers went with a game plan of picking on the rookie, as Cedi Osman got victimized first by Jerryd Bayless and then JJ Redick for anticipation calls on the perimeter. Those led to five made free throws, sandwiched around a bad pass from Cedi that led to a Covington three. After a Korver turnover led to a runout three for Redick, putting the Sixers up by three, Ty Lue subbed in Jae Crowder for Cedi. The weary legs seemed to be catching up with the Cavs, however, as they seemed content to jack up threes rather than drive inside on the Sixers. That is… until LeBron decided it was time to get serious…

The Cleveland Cavaliers finished their win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday on a 22-12 run and LeBron James scored or assisted on all 22 of those points. According to Elias, that's the most points scored or assisted on for any player this season… https://t.co/m6PE1Fj4Yg

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 10, 2017

LBJ forced the action on the offensive end, either taking it right at the Sixers, or making ridiculous bounce passes with english to hit shooters. And, on the defensive end, the Cavs collectively shut Philly’s water off… allowing only a pair of Richaun Holmes free throws over the final 4:41. With the run, the Cavs climbed out of a five point deficit, and were able to finish off the win with this much needed dagger from Jae Crowder…

BIG. TIME. BUCKET. https://t.co/dWneiBLd5k

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 10, 2017

The Evil

For the second straight game, the Cavs dug themselves a decent sized hole with the starters in the first half of the first quarter. This instance was a bit different, though, as the bulk of the disjointed nature was due to the Ante Zizic spot start. The team just seemed out of whack on both ends from the jump, with a rash of turnovers and minimal inside defensive presence.

Speaking of Zizic, the blame can’t all be laid at his size 15s… mainly because he rarely gets any sort of run off the bench from Ty Lue. So, really, how could he be expected to fit even semi-seamlessly into the offensive and defensive schemes? Brett Brown is a smart coach, and he had the Sixers going right at the big man in his spot start for most of his miserable five minutes of court time. Not to take Ante off the hook entirely, since you’d hope he’d acquit himself a little better than he did. But, despite not wanting to break up the mojo of the Dinobots, Lue and the Cavs probably would have been better served starting Channing, or Jeff Green (who eventually started the second half anyway).

Even without Joel Embiid, the Sixers out-rebounded the Cavs 39-33. Granted, the Cavs were without Kevin Love (and still without Tristan Thompson), yet they continue to give up easy second-chance opportunities to hustling bench players on opposing teams. Tonight’s culprit was new addition Trevor Booker, who had four offensive boards and eight overall in just 20 minutes. The Cleveland guards in particular have to do a better job of boxing guys out when most of the front line is out.

Two Sixers did most of the damage from deep (Covington and Redick combined to shoot 9-16 from downtown). The Cavs did a good job on them early, but lost track of them a bit in the third and allowed them to get hot enough to grab the lead back in the fourth.

The turnovers were pretty egregious on both sides (Cavs had 17 and the Sixers 19), but the Cavs combined theirs with three point settle shots in the late third/early fourth quarter, which almost cost them this game.

Robert Covington took a nasty spill near the end of the game while trying to save a ball from going out of bounds. He was down for a couple of minutes behind the Cavs’ bench and had to be helped off the floor. Hopefully, he did no significant damage.

The Genius

Another MVP performance from LeBron James. He notched the 58th triple double of his career (third this season) with 30 points, 13 boards and 13 assists, while adding three steals. The only blemishes on his performance were six turnovers and a surprisingly inefficient 9-23 shooting night (although he was 6-12 in the second half after going just 3-11 in the first). He continues to amaze as he finds ways to put this team on his back and will it to victory… even on nights when he has every right to be exhausted. I mean… I don’t know how he makes passes like this…

https://twitter.com/CLEsportsline/status/939695256894918657

Big night for the only Cav starter in the positive +/- … Jae Crowder. Though he only scored 12 points, he hit two huge three pointers late in the game… including the dagger above. You could almost see the 800 pound gorilla jump off of his back after he hit it. Crowder also corralled five boards, two steals, blocked a shot and was very good defensively (especially when Coach Lue turned to him in the fourth). Let’s hope this is a good sign that things are maybe turning around for him.

After a bit of an off-night in Indy, the bench was back stronger than ever against the Sixers. Wade (13 points, four assists), Green (13 points, six boards) and Korver (13 points on 4-8 from three) led the unit to a 48-27 advantage over the Sixers’ bench. Green in particular brought an energy and toughness, despite taking a hard fall after being undercut by Simmons, and being run into the stanchion by Bayless a bit later. Korver regained his deadly shooting and the gravity that goes with it. And, Wade made some terrific passes and back cuts… and had another vintage block…

NOPE. https://t.co/f6be0AyywG

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 10, 2017

While Cedi Osman’s fourth quarter minutes could have gone in the Evil section… his second quarter minutes were pretty great, and allowed LeBron to take a few extra minutes of rest. The only way he’ll learn from his rookie mistakes is if Ty keeps rewarding him with minutes.

I also spared JR from the Evil (even though I wish he’d take more shots, especially on a night when Kevin is out and LeBron can use all the firepower from the other starters he can get)… mainly because he passed Kobe Bryant for 12th on the all time made threes list… and he did it with a four point “banana in the tailpipe” play.

.@TheRealJRSmith just passed @KobeBryant (1,827 3FGM) for 12th all-time three-pointers made!#AllForOne https://t.co/XfIN4cdalj

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 10, 2017

Shout out also to Jose and Channing, who both contributed with veteran savvy when it was most needed. Jose helped keep the offense running later on, despite the issues early, and even hit two threes for good measure.

Parting Shot

Though an entertaining game, and an important one for the Cavs to gut out and win following the end of a long win streak, it’s tough to take too much from it given those MIA on both sides. Embiid provides a whole other dimension to this Sixers team, while Love does the same in a different way for the Cavs. Probably the most important thing that came out of it (other than the win), was the potential confidence-building benchmark it might wind up being for Jae Crowder.

Things get easier (three more home games with days off in between against the Hawks, Lakers and Jazz), before they get harder (back to back at Wizards, then at the Bucks), leading up to another Christmas Day showdown with the Warriors.

Let’s hope the Cavs can continue to deep six the competition with the potent mix of LeBron’s MVP caliber season, a dynamic bench, and a few presents coming under the tree…

GO CAVS!