Game Thread | 2021-2022 Season | Game #63 | Cavs @ Sixers | March 4, 2022 | 7:00 p.m.

[LutherRackley]

Highlight video. 76ers announcers warning - partisan. Only watch the first 6 minutes or so. The 4th quarter is painful.

Unfortunately where I live I had to watch the game with Sixers announcers. Once again I muted the sound because they are two a-holes.

 

[Heatcliff Check]

If JBB runs Love and Markk out there together he gets hammered for having a shitty defensive rotation. If JBB runs Okoro and Stevens out the he gets hammered for having no shooters on the floor.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. If Love or Markk would have gotten hot from 3 point range instead of going completely ice cold people would be singing a different tune.

Ice cold?

Love shot 43% from the perimeter. He got up seven 3pt shots because he pretty much let it fly every time he got the ball.

Lauri had one 3pt attempt in the entire game. One.

We were trying to beat the Sixers with lobs and floaters. Absolutely zero attempt to create good 3pt looks. Meanwhile, they were killing us from the perimeter. This is turning into the story of the 2nd half of the season.

Playing inside-out, kicking it back to the perimeter, is always the last resort for Garland. He only has one real target out there and that's Allen. If he's not open, it's gonna be a floater by Darius. Everyone else stands and watches or takes 911 shots after getting the ball with 3 seconds in the shot clock.

This is not how you win, not at this stage of the season, when teams have scouted us to death. JBB better start coaching some offense, fast.

 

[BigZ94]

According to Sixers commentators Philly cant foul and every missed Philly shot is a foul. That woman is unbearable Jesus…

 

[BigZ94]

Why have the Cavs lost the ability to play defense? And why has Mobley turned into a total pumpkin? I mean, I’ve heard of the rookie wall, but this is out of hand…

Rookie having his first experience of a full 82 game season, being 7ft having to cover as much ground as he does every game must be exhausting

 

[Dr. Claw]

When the first thing you want to say will get you in time out, and the second one will make you sound like this board's version of Rick Barry, it's probably time to take a break for a minute.

Hoping for a brighter day tomorrow, and a win on Sunday.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Garland was 1-for-6 in the 4th quarter. Like I said, having to play 43 minutes he ran out of gas. If we only had Rubio or Sexton or LeVert we very well might have beat one of the elite teams in their house. Heck, once we get LeVert back we'll have more offensive firepower than last night and we scored 119.

Every time Okoro got the ball with Maxey in front of him he bulled his way to the rim and scored. I want to see him continue to do that the rest of the season. He attempted only one 3-point shot against 11 2-pointers, which is what I want to see from him. He's been trying to be a 3-and-D guy, but he's just not a 3-point shooter. Last night he played to his strength and hopefully a light went on.

It helped that Embiid is an awful rim defender, but this is Okoro's game until his 3-point shooting improves and I really hope he continues to attack the rim when he has a good matchup.

With the Cavs down by 4 with 1:24 to go and needing a stop, they forced Embiid to take a step-back jumper off one foot from the top of the key. The ball bounced around the rim, off the glass, back onto the rim, and fell in. Lucky break, but great scorers seem to get them. The Sixers also got some help from the refs who seem to love guys like Harden and Tre Young who get into the paint, change their path to throw a shoulder into whoever is guarding them, and then throw their arms up and fall down.

If the Cavs can keep playing like this they will beat almost every team they play. Beating the Sixers on the road is a tough assignment. They have no weaknesses, especially with Niang and Milton coming off the bench to light it up from deep.

 

[Rich]

I'm just not seeing the "if the Cavs play this way they'll win most nights" stuff.

They were atrocious defensively. That was their worst defensive rating of the season.

They played Garland 43 minutes and the entire 2nd half to even keep it close.


What we saw last night is absolutely not a recipe for success and getting out of this slump.

 

[buzzdog]

Ice cold?

Love shot 43% from the perimeter. He got up seven 3pt shots because he pretty much let it fly every time he got the ball.

Lauri had one 3pt attempt in the entire game. One.

Love started off nicely. When we were having trouble scoring and a 3 pointer would have meant a lot, Love couldn't hit the rim. And yes, Lauri wasn't involved for whatever reason.

Our ball movement was abysmal and I also hate the way we regress to relying completely on the primary ball handler to create offense while everyone else stands around. No off ball screens, no player movement whatsoever. It's a formula for failure.

 

[buzzdog]

I'm just not seeing the "if the Cavs play this way they'll win most nights" stuff.

They were atrocious defensively. That was their worst defensive rating of the season.

They played Garland 43 minutes and the entire 2nd half to even keep it close.


What we saw last night is absolutely not a recipe for success and getting out of this slump.

I don't know about that. There were things that improved a lot from the previous several games. I saw much better effort and I saw a better level of aggressiveness at times on both ends of the floor.

This was the Sixers and they're going to get theirs on most nights against most opponents. Say what you want about Harden but he's going to help an offense get points either through 3 point shots, drives, and-ones and trips to the foul line. We did put some good resistance to his game. Same with Embiid, he's hard for most teams in the league to stop and we did a respectable job on him.

Maxey was our Achille's heel. Their offense is designed to get him the ball for open looks and he converted at a high rate. I think we need to figure out how to stick on perimeter shooters and we've gotten pretty weak on that aspect of our defense.

The offense did click a little better because we had more players being aggressive. But then as we always do when push comes to shove, we regress to the ISO and 2 man game. The other 3 guys spread out to the corners and stand there. I absolutely cringe every time we go to that bullshit offensive mindset. If Garland is perfect we can win that way, but when Garland's legs are gone and he misses shots and throws the ball away, we don't stand a chance.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

I'm just not seeing the "if the Cavs play this way they'll win most nights" stuff.

They were atrocious defensively. That was their worst defensive rating of the season.

They played Garland 43 minutes and the entire 2nd half to even keep it close.


What we saw last night is absolutely not a recipe for success and getting out of this slump.

When you say they were "atrocious defensively" I think you should account for the presence of Harden, Embiid, Harris, and Maxey on the other team.

They were down four points with under two minutes to go against one of the league's best teams on their court. Against most teams they would have won with that effort.

Not having a backup point guard is definitely a problem. LeVert needs to get back soon.

 

[backstreet hooper]

Love started off nicely. When we were having trouble scoring and a 3 pointer would have meant a lot, Love couldn't hit the rim. And yes, Lauri wasn't involved for whatever reason.

Our ball movement was abysmal and I also hate the way we regress to relying completely on the primary ball handler to create offense while everyone else stands around. No off ball screens, no player movement whatsoever. It's a formula for failure.

Lauri got into foul trouble early in the game and played only 17 minutes. Garland ran out of fuel in the 4th quarter and it showed. He wasn’t nearly as efficient at the end as he was in the first half, and especially in the 1st quarter when the Cavs played great basketball. The 1st quarter showed us again that the Cavs are at their best when Garland is a playmaker and distributes the ball instead of trying to look too much for lanes for himself. This keeps everyone active and moving, not standing still, resulting in a better sync and flow. He didn’t score a lot in the first quarter but the team did because of his awareness to know where his team mates are on the court (similar to Rubio) and his ability to find passing lanes.

 

[Cavatt]

Wife out of town and I didn’t feel like going myself. Good for you though. I enjoyed the last game even though we lost. You live in the Philly area?

No I really like it here. Friend just bought a house here, and I love going to different arenas. Haven't been out much, this is dipping back into it.

I was in disbelief the whole first half. Guys played really well and seems like they shook the disjointedness off a bit. Some really great play from Cedi and Okoro. Okoro was punishing Maxey. I wish he had attacked him and Harden even more in the 2nd half. They couldn't guard him.

Philly's defense turned up a lot after half. They gave up 71 and then only 48. Guys were tired all around. You could tell Darius was out of gas. Took his legs on shots. Thybulle mad him work very hard. Embiid was also so so tired. They had both sweated through their uniforms.

Very palpable momentum swing when they took the lead. Felt like it was going to be impossible to get it back.

Cavs had a let down. Take of 2 halves. It was tomb silent in there most of the 1st half which was eerie. They exploded though when Maxey went on that run in the 3rd.

Goodwin was really positive. Mobley seemed distracted or disturbed. Seemed hard on himself.

Rondo was in guys ears all knight. Philly fan next to me said. "Rondo sit down, they have all the assistants they need. You aren't a coach yet."

Got his reaction

 

[2 For The Brew]

I was in section 124 row 8 last game. Guessing you were close to there? Amazing how different the feel of the game is live & close to court side - you can see things that don’t come through on TV.

 

[Dr No]

I was in section 124 row 8 last game. Guessing you were close to there? Amazing how different the feel of the game is live & close to court side - you can see things that don’t come through on TV.

Live games really do change the way you see things. I couldn't understand how big Yao was, or how unstoppable Durant's jump shot is, how fast/explosive Westbrook was, or how imposing Lebron is, or how fast Curry's release is until I saw it all in person.

 

[Cavatt]

I was in section 124 row 8 last game. Guessing you were close to there? Amazing how different the feel of the game is live & close to court side - you can see things that don’t come through on TV.

I was in 124 only the seats next to the bench were closer.

Embiid was so big and strong and he just smashed into Allen with all his weight.

Mobley looked like a child. He's just a baby.

Okoro was really impressive in person with his physicality. People who don't get it should see him live.

Great game.