Cavs’ seven-game winning streak ends in Philly

On Wednesday night, the Cavs’ seven-game-winning streak came to an end as they fell to the 76ers on the road 118-112.

Here’s The Great, Not So Great, and the Bottom Line of the Cavs’ loss to the 76ers

The Great:

Cavs Backcourt: Donovan Mitchell(33 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals) and Darius Garland(27 points, two rebounds, six assists, three steals) combined for 60 points, seven rebounds, 11 assists, and five steals. Mitchell scored 25 of his 33 points in the second half, including 16 points in the fourth, and Garland was 10/14 from the field. Mitchell and Garland almost brought the Cavs all the way back in this one.

Second Half: Cleveland trailed by many as 28 points in the first half and by as many as 27 in the third. However, they finally woke up. The Cavs outscored the 76ers 32-24 in the third but trailed by 17 going into the fourth. In the final stanza, Cleveland cut Philly’s 22-point fourth-quarter lead to four with 1:30 left and with just under a minute to go, but they couldn’t get any closer. The Cavs outscored the 76ers 74-55 in the second half and shot 63%.

Not So Great:

First Half: Cleveland came out slow and sluggish. They never led in this one, and the 76ers jumped on them early. Philadelphia shot 53%(8/15) from deep. Conversely, Cleveland was terrible on offense. They shot 36% from the field and were 4/17 from downtown. The Cavs were fighting uphill the rest of the way and trailed 63-48 at halftime.

The Final 52.5 seconds: With 52.5 seconds left in the game and the Cavs trailing 114-110, Joel Embiid rebounded an Evan Mobley missed hook shot. Instead of playing straight-up defense, Cleveland decided to foul, which did not make much sense. If you play defense and get the stop, you can get it to two or one with still a decent amount of time left, but they started fouling early, and Philly made their foul shots to put the game away.

Bottom Line:

Despite the loss, it was a great effort by the Cavs. For Cleveland(38-23) to come back from a 28-point deficit is impressive. However, this is another learning experience for the young Cavs. You have to start early against a team like the 76ers.

As they head into the All-Star break, the fourth-seeded Cavs are two games behind the third-seeded 76ers(38-19) and are 2.5 games up on the fifth-seeded Nets. 

At this point, with 21 games to go, the Cavs are probably locked into the fourth seed, which means homecourt advantage in the first round and a meeting with the Nets, Heat, or Knicks. All those series seem very winnable for the Cavs, so things are looking up in Cleveland.

Best of the Rest:

-Joel Embiid led the 76ers with 29 points, 14 rebounds, and two steals. James Harden had 19 points and 12 assists. Philadelphia had six players in double figures.

-Evan Mobley had 23 points and nine rebounds; Jarrett Allen added 12 points and seven rebounds

-Cedi Osman(neck) and Ricky Rubio(illness) did not play on Wednesday night.

-According to Shams Charania, the Cavs, and Kevin Love are finalizing a contract buyout. The 34-year-old, who has not played in the last 12 games and is out of the rotation, has reportedly requested a buyout from the team.

Love has spent nine seasons with the Cavs and is making $31.2 million this season.