The Cleveland Cavaliers played the second half of a back-to-back on Friday night in Philadelphia against the 76ers.
Cleveland, who’s coming off a 116-107 loss to the Magic at home on Thursday night, were without their leading scorer, Donovan Mitchell (illness), for the second straight game.
Philly’s Tyrese Macey scored 15 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, and the 76ers defeated the Cavs 104-97.
The Cavs (36-19) have lost their second straight and dropped three of four, while the 76ers (33-23) snapped a two-game losing streak.
Here’s the Great, Not So Great, and the Bottom Line of the Cavs’ loss to the 76ers.
Great:
Jarrett Allen was dominant for the Cavs. He did a great job of moving without the ball to get some easy baskets. Allen finished with 24 points and nine rebounds.
Darius Garland had a solid game with 20 points, five rebounds, and nine assists; he could have been better, but again, he was solid.
Not So Great:
Free-Throws: Cleveland struggled at the charity stripe; they missed 10 free throws(21-31), which, in some respect, could have been the difference in the game.
Caris LeVert: Without Mitchell, the Cavs needed LeVert to be at his best, and he wasn’t. LeVert was 1/11 from the field and was 0/4 from deep. He finished with six points.
Three-Point Shooting: The Cavs did not shoot the ball well on Friday night; they shot 43% from the field and were an abysmal 8/27 behind the arc. In the third, they were 1/9 from deep.
Fourth Quarter: Cleveland trailed by as many as 11 points in the third and by as many as eight in the fourth. Philly had a 30-point fourth, and the Cavs had no answers for Maxey.
Cleveland could not make shots in the fourth. LeVert(1-5 FG) and Garland(0-2 FG) were a combined 1-7 from the floor; they needed those two to be better.
Bottom Line:
Should there be panic in the Land? No! Cleveland did not have their best player for the past two games.
Now, the last two were very winnable games. You should beat the Magic at home, and you had an excellent opportunity to beat the 76ers without Embiid, who had lost six of their last eight coming into this contest.
Again, both of these losses were without Mitchell, and he is the one who makes this team dynamic, and he’s the one that makes this team a contender.
However, let’s panic if Mitchell comes back, and they still struggle.
What’s Next:
The Cavs travel to D.C. to battle the Wizards on Sunday night.
Best of the Rest:
Cameron Payne scored 16 points off Philly’s bench; Tobias Harris had 15 points and nine rebounds.
Max Strus had 14 points and six assists, Isaac Okoro chipped in with 11 points, and Evan Mobley had eight points and 10 rebounds for the Cavs.
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