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Coming off an impressive come-from-way-behind win in Indianapolis, the Cavs take the long flight to Philadelphia for a back-to-back on the road against the 33-22 Sixers, who are 15-12 at home. The Sixers beat OKC 100-87 last night as Joel Embiid had 25 points, 19 rebounds, and 5 blocks.
Both teams played last night but the Cavs had to travel while the Sixers were at home so advantage Philly. The Sixers started the season 15-15 but have since gone 18-7. They're on a roll.
James Harden is listed as unlikely to play tonight with a hamstring injury. Last night the Sixers started Embiid, Tobias Harris, Tyrese Maxey, Matisse Thybulle, and Furkan Korkmaz. Their bench only scored 19 points and Korkmaz had 5. Embiid, Maxey, and Harris scored two-thirds of their points.
Embiid was averaging 36 points and 12 rebounds over his previous 10 games going into last night. He’s a nightmare and the matchup between him and Jarrett Allen will be something to watch. With Allen having played three years in Brooklyn these guys are very familiar with each other.
Harris is having a great year at 19.1 pts and 7.3 rebounds. He’s shooting 48.% from the field and 34.6% on 3’s. Mobley will have his hands full at both ends. Point guard Tyrese Maxey is averaging 16.9 points but only 4.8 assists in 36 minutes per game. He’s more of a scoring point guard, shooting 47% and just under 40% on 3’s.
Thybulle is their version of Isaac Okoro, averaging 5.8 points per game as a shooting guard. He has a reputation as a great defender. He takes less than five shots per game.
Korkmaz is shooting 39% overall and 29% on 3’s. I’m sure they can’t wait to get Harden on the floor.
With Andre Drummond going to the Nets in the Harden/Simmons deal the Sixers backup center becomes Charles Bassey, a 6’9” rookie who was the 53rd pick in the draft. The Cavs really need to take advantage when Embiid gets a rest. He averages 33 minutes per game. Drummond was averaging 18 minutes so the Sixers need to figure out what to do when Joel sits. Other than Bassey they don’t have anybody on their roster over 6’7” except another late 2nd round rookie, Paul Reed, who is a 6’9”, 210 pound small forward.
The Sixers have been a little above average offensively, ranking 13th in efficiency. They only got 100 points at home against OKC last night, who normally allows 107.5. They traded starting SG Seth Curry but his replacement (Harden) is still out, so they're temporarily down a little.
The Sixers get to the line a lot (6th highest), especially Embiid, who averages 11 free throw attempts per game. They rank 4th in percentage of points from free throws, 7th in percentage from 2’s, and 23rd in percentage from 3’s. They’re obviously more of an attack-the-rim team than long range snipers. I think that makes them a pretty good matchup for the Cavs, who defend the paint very well.
The Sixers rank 29th in field goal attempts per game and the Cavs rank 30th. This could be the slowest game of the year. Both teams have big men that operate in the post and they grind out long possessions in the half-court game.
The Sixers have the 4th fewest turnovers, probably because they run their offense through Embiid, who either takes the shot or passes out of a double team. Embiid was only 7-for-25 last night so I expect him to bounce back with a big game tonight if Allen doesn’t play him very physical. The guy is 7’0”, 280 pounds and is definitely an MVP candidate.
The Sixers rank last in offensive rebounding, probably because Embiid takes so many shots and he is not in position to rebound. He ranks in the top 1% in usage rate among centers, so he probably rests on the offensive glass. If the Cavs can force a missed first shot they should be in good shape. However, the Sixers got 15 offensive boards against OKC last night.
In terms of defensive efficiency the Sixers rank 10th. They’re 6th in effective field goal percentage so they force a lot of missed shots. They’re 4th in block percentage and 4th in steals per play. They had 10 blocks last night with Embiid getting five of them. The Cavs need to be very careful about turnovers, which almost sunk them last night after they coughed it up seven times in that 47-point first quarter.
Matisse Thybulle is in the top 1% of wings for both block percentage and steal percentage. Embiid is in the 72nd and 73rd percentile among centers in block and steal percentage.
Embiid leads the Sixers in on/off. They are +9.0 points per 100 possessions when he is on the court. As a team they are +3.0, so they are -6.0 when he is down. With Drummond gone the question is whether that off court number will be worse. I’m assuming Allen and Embiid will be up and down at the same time with Mobley or Love at center when Embiid and Allen are out. The Cavs need to outscore the Sixers big time when Embiid is down. The Sixers may go with three guards and two forwards and just try to outshoot the opponent rather than put in a 6’9” rookie 2nd round pick.
So it should be an interesting game. I don’t know if Darius Garland will play but that will obviously be a big factor, especially with Rondo playing 33 minutes last night. Love also got a few more minutes than usual so Dean Wade may have a bigger role. In fact, the Cavs prefer not to play Love two consecutive nights, so he may be out.
The Cavs had a fairly long flight from Indiana last night and Philly is at home so advantage Sixers. I won’t be too upset if the Cavs lose this one, especially if Darius is out. If he is we may see more of Goodwin tonight.
This should be a low-scoring, slow-paced slugfest featuring the slowest paced teams in the league who like to put the ball in the hands of their big men, which slows things down. It might look like one of those old time playoff games with Moses Malone against Bill Laimbeer and the Bad Boy Pistons.
The Sixers traded Curry and Drummond and so far have got nothing back until Harden can play, so they're down a couple of players at the moment. Let's see if the Cavs can steal a win on the road.
Both teams played last night but the Cavs had to travel while the Sixers were at home so advantage Philly. The Sixers started the season 15-15 but have since gone 18-7. They're on a roll.
James Harden is listed as unlikely to play tonight with a hamstring injury. Last night the Sixers started Embiid, Tobias Harris, Tyrese Maxey, Matisse Thybulle, and Furkan Korkmaz. Their bench only scored 19 points and Korkmaz had 5. Embiid, Maxey, and Harris scored two-thirds of their points.
Embiid was averaging 36 points and 12 rebounds over his previous 10 games going into last night. He’s a nightmare and the matchup between him and Jarrett Allen will be something to watch. With Allen having played three years in Brooklyn these guys are very familiar with each other.
Harris is having a great year at 19.1 pts and 7.3 rebounds. He’s shooting 48.% from the field and 34.6% on 3’s. Mobley will have his hands full at both ends. Point guard Tyrese Maxey is averaging 16.9 points but only 4.8 assists in 36 minutes per game. He’s more of a scoring point guard, shooting 47% and just under 40% on 3’s.
Thybulle is their version of Isaac Okoro, averaging 5.8 points per game as a shooting guard. He has a reputation as a great defender. He takes less than five shots per game.
Korkmaz is shooting 39% overall and 29% on 3’s. I’m sure they can’t wait to get Harden on the floor.
With Andre Drummond going to the Nets in the Harden/Simmons deal the Sixers backup center becomes Charles Bassey, a 6’9” rookie who was the 53rd pick in the draft. The Cavs really need to take advantage when Embiid gets a rest. He averages 33 minutes per game. Drummond was averaging 18 minutes so the Sixers need to figure out what to do when Joel sits. Other than Bassey they don’t have anybody on their roster over 6’7” except another late 2nd round rookie, Paul Reed, who is a 6’9”, 210 pound small forward.
The Sixers have been a little above average offensively, ranking 13th in efficiency. They only got 100 points at home against OKC last night, who normally allows 107.5. They traded starting SG Seth Curry but his replacement (Harden) is still out, so they're temporarily down a little.
The Sixers get to the line a lot (6th highest), especially Embiid, who averages 11 free throw attempts per game. They rank 4th in percentage of points from free throws, 7th in percentage from 2’s, and 23rd in percentage from 3’s. They’re obviously more of an attack-the-rim team than long range snipers. I think that makes them a pretty good matchup for the Cavs, who defend the paint very well.
The Sixers rank 29th in field goal attempts per game and the Cavs rank 30th. This could be the slowest game of the year. Both teams have big men that operate in the post and they grind out long possessions in the half-court game.
The Sixers have the 4th fewest turnovers, probably because they run their offense through Embiid, who either takes the shot or passes out of a double team. Embiid was only 7-for-25 last night so I expect him to bounce back with a big game tonight if Allen doesn’t play him very physical. The guy is 7’0”, 280 pounds and is definitely an MVP candidate.
The Sixers rank last in offensive rebounding, probably because Embiid takes so many shots and he is not in position to rebound. He ranks in the top 1% in usage rate among centers, so he probably rests on the offensive glass. If the Cavs can force a missed first shot they should be in good shape. However, the Sixers got 15 offensive boards against OKC last night.
In terms of defensive efficiency the Sixers rank 10th. They’re 6th in effective field goal percentage so they force a lot of missed shots. They’re 4th in block percentage and 4th in steals per play. They had 10 blocks last night with Embiid getting five of them. The Cavs need to be very careful about turnovers, which almost sunk them last night after they coughed it up seven times in that 47-point first quarter.
Matisse Thybulle is in the top 1% of wings for both block percentage and steal percentage. Embiid is in the 72nd and 73rd percentile among centers in block and steal percentage.
Embiid leads the Sixers in on/off. They are +9.0 points per 100 possessions when he is on the court. As a team they are +3.0, so they are -6.0 when he is down. With Drummond gone the question is whether that off court number will be worse. I’m assuming Allen and Embiid will be up and down at the same time with Mobley or Love at center when Embiid and Allen are out. The Cavs need to outscore the Sixers big time when Embiid is down. The Sixers may go with three guards and two forwards and just try to outshoot the opponent rather than put in a 6’9” rookie 2nd round pick.
So it should be an interesting game. I don’t know if Darius Garland will play but that will obviously be a big factor, especially with Rondo playing 33 minutes last night. Love also got a few more minutes than usual so Dean Wade may have a bigger role. In fact, the Cavs prefer not to play Love two consecutive nights, so he may be out.
The Cavs had a fairly long flight from Indiana last night and Philly is at home so advantage Sixers. I won’t be too upset if the Cavs lose this one, especially if Darius is out. If he is we may see more of Goodwin tonight.
This should be a low-scoring, slow-paced slugfest featuring the slowest paced teams in the league who like to put the ball in the hands of their big men, which slows things down. It might look like one of those old time playoff games with Moses Malone against Bill Laimbeer and the Bad Boy Pistons.
The Sixers traded Curry and Drummond and so far have got nothing back until Harden can play, so they're down a couple of players at the moment. Let's see if the Cavs can steal a win on the road.
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