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Final Score: Cleveland Cavaliers defeat Philadelphia 76ers, 121-112.
The Sixers came into this game being the only team in the league that was undefeated in their home arena. The Cavaliers arrived with a league-worst 2-13 record and a recent heartbreaking loss down the stretch to the LeBron-led Lakers.
When the clock expired in the final quarter at the Wells Fargo Center, we had witnessed the biggest upset of the regular season this year. Yes, every streak comes to an end eventually, but you just wouldn't have thought it would happen at the hands of the NBA's worst team.
Maybe the Sixers underestimated the desperation of the Cleveland roster to get a win and were caught off-guard. Or it could also be that the Cavaliers were better as a unit on the floor from the point of tip-off. Let's take a look at the three key talking points/takeaways from the Cavs' third win of the season.
#3 The Sixers forgot to defend at home
It was almost like the Sixers were a bit too confident in their ability to outscore the opposition. Especially when it came to Cavs guards Collin Sexton & Rodney Hood, Philly looked helpless at times.
There were wide open spaces up for the taking throughout the floor. The defense off screens wasn't as aggressive as it should have been. A glaring example of it is on display below when JJ Redick got beat on a backdoor screen and Osman scored easily off a pass from Larry Nance.
Clearly, Ben Simmons should have dropped back to take care of Cedi as there was no way JJ could have gotten around the screen. Such carelessness with the game hanging in the balance could cost them heavily down the season when games would mean way more.
The Sixers' sluggish attitude on defense was one of the prime reasons for their demise, as they offered the Cavaliers plenty of uncontested shots throughout the 48-minute game. The Cavaliers were getting to the spots they wanted to with ease owing to the lazy defensive movements by Philly in the open space. Missed switches, slow closeouts, and failures to adjust contributed to the loss.
“We struggled guarding them,” said Coach Brett Brown. “I thought their guards made tough shots, and they beat us off a live dribble.”
As a result, Cavs shot 50% from beyond the arc and 52.7% from the field.
#2 Joel Embiid didn't show up the way he was supposed to
Embiid scored 24 points and grabbed 14 boards, but was not as dominant in the post as we are accustomed to seeing.
The Cavaliers did a good job of defending him in the paint and restricted him to just 13 field-goal attempts (he's averaging 19.4 FG attempts on the season). They trapped him inside and pestered him. The double-teaming on Joel forced him to turn the ball over or give it up on more occasions than one.
Using his versatility to just about counter any defensive scheme, Embiid resorted to outside shots in the second quarter, draining two three-point shots. He was 2-4 from beyond the arc when the game ended and 8-13 from the field.
Although he dropped a team-high 24 points, Embiid took just three shots in the paint. That goes to show that other teams should also follow the Cavs' example and adopt more frequent double teams, given how dominant he's been inside.
#1 Collin Sexton, Rodney Hood & Jordan Clarkson came up big down the stretch
The Cavaliers came out all guns blazing from the word go and stretched an 8-point lead at the end of the first period. Philly kept digging into the cushion but the Cavs refused to give way.
Collin Sexton & Rodney Hood combined for 48 points and shot a combined 20-38 from the field. Sexton and Hood both made a ton of closely contested long twos, but then again, the Sixers defense let them have whatever shot they desired from wherever they felt like.
Also, according to stats.nba.com Sixers combined to contest 70 shots in the game, when Cleveland took 93 shots in total. This emphasises the fact that the Cavs made a lot of tough shots throughout the night.
“I got to give them a lot of credit, they made a lot of tough shots,” Joel Embiid said. “They made a lot of long twos. That’s what we want, we want teams to make long twos, and tonight [Cleveland] made a lot of them.”
But the grit of the LeBron-less Defending East Champs came into play down in the 4th quarter when they mounted a game-changing 22-8 surge. Jordan Clarkson stepped up big time, scoring 14 of his 19 points in the fourth. Rodney Hood (25 pts) was also clutch in crunch time. His triple with three minutes left gave Cleveland a 15-point lead.
