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The Cavaliers, flush off an 18-point beatdown of the depleted New York Knicks, return home for their final shot at the 76ers, who also won yesterday, pounding the Hornets 144-114. Seven Sixers scored in double figures and all of their starters were between +21 and +28.
The Sixers are 3-0 against the Cavs with all three games played in the second half of the season. Even though the Sixers have the big names the Cavs have been feisty, losing by 10, 6, and 4 points. In the most recent game three weeks ago the Cavs were up by a point with under four minutes to go but lost 118-114 despite not having Allen, Wade, or Rondo. The Cavs play these guys tough.
The Sixers are healthy at the right time with no injuries whatsoever on their entire roster. The Cavs, OTOH, well….
In the last game between these teams with Allen out but Mobley playing Joel Embiid went off for 35 points and 17 rebounds. With no Mobley or Allen he could easily exceed those numbers tonight. He’s averaging 32.3 points and 13.3 rebounds against the Cavs this year.
James Harden (22.7 pts, 7.5 rebs, 9.6 assists), Tobias Harris (17.5 pts, 6.9 rebs), Tyrese Maxey (17.2 pts), and Matisse Thybulle (5.8 pts on 50% from the field) are all ready to go.
It will be interesting to see if new Cavs phenom Moses Brown can keep Embiid from dominating the game. I’m thinking Embiid gets him in foul trouble early. This will be a big test for the young man as he tries to fill Jarrett Allen’s shoes.
With Mobley out JBB has been starting a three-guard lineup of Garland, Okoro, and LeVert with Markkanen moving over to power forward. Marky needs to man up and at least play even in his matchup with Tobias Harris. Okoro has the unenviable task of checking James Harden and he’ll get some help from Lamar Stevens. That leaves LeVert and Garland against Maxey and Thybulle.
On paper the Cavs have no shot but so far they have been competitive against the Sixers every time, especially the last two games where they lost by 6 and 4. But with Allen and Mobley BOTH out it will be a lot harder.
The Sixers are in 4th place, 0.5 games out of 3rd and 1.0 games out of 2nd, so they will be going all out for the W. For the Cavs to have a shot every player is going to have to play well and that includes the bench. Love played 27 minutes yesterday but he's going to have to suck it up with only four games left and hit some 3's. Same with Cedi. It's an eight-man rotation now and all eight need to bring their A game for the Cavs to have a shot.
Last night the Cavs moved the ball and finished with 119 points, 26 assists, and seven players in double figures against the 8th ranked scoring defense, and that was on the road. The Sixers have the 6th best scoring defense so it will be a challenge to score 119 on the second day of a back-to-back.
The Sixers are coming off a 144-point game so their offense is humming. However, the game before that they lost to Detroit on the road 102-94 with the same players, so they’ve been inconsistent. Embiid scored 37 but the Pistons held Harden, Harris and Maxey to 18, 14, and 13 while the entire Sixers bench scored 8 points.
My advice is for the Cavs to take the same approach; let Embiid get his but don’t let the others get going. Last game the Cavs doubled Embiid early and he passed out of it for easy 3-pointers that got his teammates into a good shooting rhythm.
In that game Embiid, Harden, Maxey and Harris combined for 100 of the team’s 118 points. If the Cavs leave Brown to guard Embiid by himself and focus on stopping the other three they might be able to limit the Sixers scoring. Somehow Detroit held them to 94 less than a week ago and the Cavs need to follow that approach.
The good news is that when the season started everybody assumed this would be a meaningless game.
The Sixers are 3-0 against the Cavs with all three games played in the second half of the season. Even though the Sixers have the big names the Cavs have been feisty, losing by 10, 6, and 4 points. In the most recent game three weeks ago the Cavs were up by a point with under four minutes to go but lost 118-114 despite not having Allen, Wade, or Rondo. The Cavs play these guys tough.
The Sixers are healthy at the right time with no injuries whatsoever on their entire roster. The Cavs, OTOH, well….
In the last game between these teams with Allen out but Mobley playing Joel Embiid went off for 35 points and 17 rebounds. With no Mobley or Allen he could easily exceed those numbers tonight. He’s averaging 32.3 points and 13.3 rebounds against the Cavs this year.
James Harden (22.7 pts, 7.5 rebs, 9.6 assists), Tobias Harris (17.5 pts, 6.9 rebs), Tyrese Maxey (17.2 pts), and Matisse Thybulle (5.8 pts on 50% from the field) are all ready to go.
It will be interesting to see if new Cavs phenom Moses Brown can keep Embiid from dominating the game. I’m thinking Embiid gets him in foul trouble early. This will be a big test for the young man as he tries to fill Jarrett Allen’s shoes.
With Mobley out JBB has been starting a three-guard lineup of Garland, Okoro, and LeVert with Markkanen moving over to power forward. Marky needs to man up and at least play even in his matchup with Tobias Harris. Okoro has the unenviable task of checking James Harden and he’ll get some help from Lamar Stevens. That leaves LeVert and Garland against Maxey and Thybulle.
On paper the Cavs have no shot but so far they have been competitive against the Sixers every time, especially the last two games where they lost by 6 and 4. But with Allen and Mobley BOTH out it will be a lot harder.
The Sixers are in 4th place, 0.5 games out of 3rd and 1.0 games out of 2nd, so they will be going all out for the W. For the Cavs to have a shot every player is going to have to play well and that includes the bench. Love played 27 minutes yesterday but he's going to have to suck it up with only four games left and hit some 3's. Same with Cedi. It's an eight-man rotation now and all eight need to bring their A game for the Cavs to have a shot.
Last night the Cavs moved the ball and finished with 119 points, 26 assists, and seven players in double figures against the 8th ranked scoring defense, and that was on the road. The Sixers have the 6th best scoring defense so it will be a challenge to score 119 on the second day of a back-to-back.
The Sixers are coming off a 144-point game so their offense is humming. However, the game before that they lost to Detroit on the road 102-94 with the same players, so they’ve been inconsistent. Embiid scored 37 but the Pistons held Harden, Harris and Maxey to 18, 14, and 13 while the entire Sixers bench scored 8 points.
My advice is for the Cavs to take the same approach; let Embiid get his but don’t let the others get going. Last game the Cavs doubled Embiid early and he passed out of it for easy 3-pointers that got his teammates into a good shooting rhythm.
In that game Embiid, Harden, Maxey and Harris combined for 100 of the team’s 118 points. If the Cavs leave Brown to guard Embiid by himself and focus on stopping the other three they might be able to limit the Sixers scoring. Somehow Detroit held them to 94 less than a week ago and the Cavs need to follow that approach.
The good news is that when the season started everybody assumed this would be a meaningless game.