CLEVELAND — Things have rarely been easy for the 76ers this season.
They’ve had one of the league’s toughest early-season schedules. They’ve only had six games with their full starting lineup and are still without James Harden (right foot tendon strain) and Tyrese Maxey (left foot fracture).
Yet the squad appeared to overcome the recent adversity with a string of impressive performances. Then came Wednesday when they resembled a team that had very little fight, much like the team that started the season.
The Sixers lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 113-85, at Rocket Mortgage Arena. It was one of their most lopsided losses of the season. Cleveland shot 60.8% from the field, including making 15 of 29 three-pointers. The Cavs (14-8) held a 21-point halftime cushion after outscoring the Sixers 44-27 in the second quarter. And they built a commanding 32-point cushion in the third quarter.
This blowout loss came after the undermanned Sixers (12-10) were impressive while winning three straight and seven of nine games.
But they looked nothing the resilient group that pulled off a couple of those improbable victories.
Joel Embiid finished with 19 points on 6-for-16 shooting to go with six rebounds and three steals. He was their best player.
Harris struggles
Tobias Harris, who was major reason for their recent success, struggled mightily against the Cavs.
Harris finished with a season-low-tying three points. He missed all seven of his shot attempts in three quarters of action. Harris didn’t return in the fourth quarter because of an illness.
This came after Harris record three straight 20-point outings and did it four times in his last five games. Over that span, Harris averaged 23.0 points and 7.2 rebounds to make him one of four players to average at least 23 points and five rebounds in a minimum of four games.
But the Sixers have been through moments like this before, and have been able to bounce back.
They battled through injuries late in September’s training camp in Charleston when Embiid and P.J. Tucker unable to practice. The Sixers have played 15 straight games with at least one regular starter sidelined because of injury or illness with Embiid, Harden and Maxey missing the lion’s share of time.
Obviously, it’s not the way the Sixers planned the season to go.
“But it’s nothing you can do about it,” coach Doc Rivers said before the game. “I never worried about it. I made sure my players don’t worry about it.”
“We all work out every day. Everybody, as I jokingly say, gets paid. And it’s not anything I think as a team you should focus on.”
That’s easy to say when the Sixers have Embiid back, Tobias Harris is showing why he signed a lucrative contract and the role players are stepping up.
Valuable minutes for Milton and Melton
Harden’s target date to return on Monday night against the Houston Rockets. Meanwhile, Maxey is expected to return later this month.
But Shake Milton and De'Anthony Melton are getting value minutes in their absence.
Milton had 14 points on 6-for-12 shooting to go with three assists, while Melton had nine points and three steals.
The Sixers believe their bench players’ current stint in the starting lineup will be huge for the team later on.
“It will give us opportunities to put second groups out on the floor without any of the key guys on the floor,” Rivers said. “That’s something we were not doing early in the year. So that’s why there’s always something that happens when injuries like that happens and that may be one of them.”
Tucker more offensive
Tucker received a lot of criticism for not scoring a point and seven of the Sixers’ last eight games. However, the forward scored the Sixers’ second basket — a 26-foot 3-pointer — to put them up 5-2 with 1 minute, 58 seconds into the game.
Tucker made 2 of 4 shots — all 3-pointers — en route to scoring six points.
Embiid stayed on the floor
It’s not uncommon for Embiid to hit the deck several times a game.
This game was no exception.
Embiid fell to the court four times in the first half. He even picked up a technical foul for yelling something at referee Ashley Moyer-Gleich after landing on the floor the fourth time. Embiid appeared to be knocked to the ground, but no foul was called.
After receiving the technical, Embiid continued to walk down the court next to Moyer-Gleich, who gave him the tech, for several steps. Then he sought out other referees to talk to.
Up next
The Sixers traveled to Memphis following the game for Friday night’s matchup against the Grizzlies at FedExForum.
