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Game Thread | Game #72 | Sixers @ Cavs | March 15, 2023 | ESPN

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JBB did step up and he put the officiating on blast in the post game interview.

He said in several different ways that the charge was a charge, and he said the officiating was not fair and they would not allow the Cavs to match physicality on defense, if they tried they got whistled whereas the Sixers got away with being physical.
I mean nba refs are dictating the flow of the game is getting real bad and let’s be honest the Cavs had to work twice as hard to get the points they had while the sixers were gifted points after points. I’m not down in the Cavs they glfought hard and proud of them but this refs are trash
 
As a firsthand witness, refs did NOT let Cavs match any kind of physicality. Fans understood that from the first boo to the last boo.

If anything, learn from another loss. Know what it takes more of come playoff time.
 
As a firsthand witness, refs did NOT let Cavs match any kind of physicality. Fans understood that from the first boo to the last boo.

If anything, learn from another loss. Know what it takes more of come playoff time.
That was such a huge call that was a 4 point swing lol I bet being in the game the rigged job was way more obvious
 
That was a pretty encouraging game considering it came down to the wire despite....

1. The Sixers were healthy while the Cavs were missing Allen and Rubio
2. The Cavs were playing on the second night of a back-to-back with travel
3. The refs were clearly enthralled with Embiid and Harden and had no respect for the Cavs. "Oh shit, was that Joel's sixth foul? We better overturn it. Can't have that".

If the Cavs had Allen and a day off yesterday they probably win this one, even playing both the Sixers and the refs.

But give Philly credit - they played great defense, especially on Garland and Mitchell, they were almost automatic at the free throw line, and had a great night from deep, going 17-for-36. As usual, the 3-point shooting was the difference as the Cavs went 14-for-41; a 9-point difference in a 9-point loss.

The game was lost in the 3rd quarter when the Cavs gave up an 18-1 run after building a 13-point lead. We haven't seen that in a while, but the Cavs went 6:08 making just one free throw and that did them in.

Embiid was a man among boys, as usual. That lucky 3-point bank shot with five minutes to go was the nail in the coffin. But he ended up with 36 points, 18 boards, and 4 blocks. The refs let him do whatever he wanted when he had the ball in his hands.

Embiid, Harden, and Maxey combined for 87 points; the rest of the Sixers had 31. They're basically a 3-man team, but those three guys are really good.

The Cavs won the turnover battle 18-10 which kept them in the game. Mitchell and Garland combined to go 2-for-14 on 3's and we're not going to beat Philly with those guys clanking away like that. Even with LeVert having a great game they couldn't overcome both starting guards missing all those 3's. They didn't want to take it to the rim because Embiid was swatting everything in close.

It was great to see the Cavs bench kick in 45 points, but we needed Garland and Mitchell to have better games. The Sixers defended them very effectively, but they still missed a lot of uncontested shots, especially Darius who was 6-for-17.

With Allen out the Sixers got 13 offensive rebounds and it seemed like half of them resulted in a 3-pointer on the second attempt. On one missed shot Cedi and LeVert fought each other for an uncontested rebound, fumbled it out of bounds, and of course Philly hit a 3-pointer.

The announcers were so sure the offensive foul on Embiid would not be overturned that they said it was "one of the most shocking" review decisions of the season. Not just questionable. "Shocking". Anybody who doesn't think the refs protect the superstars can take a look at that play. Mobley got knocked on his butt and 10 feet away and the ruling was no foul by either player.

If the Cavs play the Sixers in the playoffs (unlikely) the Sixers will win. The refs will make sure of it.
 
The good things about this game are (1) I feel like we will do better against the 76ers in a series when we have time to game-plan and our shooters can settle down, and (2) if the Cavs give up open 3s all series long like we are still in the 90s, it needs to be a long, long off-season for JBB. Can't go into next season and expect to improve team success-wise with a coach that thinks giving up 2s is more important than giving up 3s. I don't care if it's intentional or not, it happens and it cannot happen. We have a sizable sample now to where I think it's safe to say it's being taught or encouraged.
 
Mitchell said the loss was on the Cavs for giving up a 13-point lead. I agree. But the Sixers got some help from Lady Luck on Embiid's desparation fallaway 3-pointer that banked in and the refs overturning his sixth foul. And the schedule.

If the Cavs want to beat that team they need to shoot better than 14-for-41 on 3's and 15-for-22 on free throws. There's a lot to like about the Cavs but shooting is not one of them and unless that improves this team won't get past the second round.
 
“I think it was a good call,” Embiid said. “I never extended my arm, and I never really put a lot of pressure into hitting him. You can tell right before the hit, he was already trying to flop at it and fall.”

Mobley, for what it’s worth, didn’t see any other way for the play to end other than him hitting the court when he was told Rivers accused him of flopping.

“I think I had good position, he hit me, I fell back,” Mobley said. “There’s not much there I could do on that.

“I feel like I played it well. I was kind of waiting for it, if he gave me a bump I was probably gonna fall. He hit me straight in my chest, I fell. I felt like it was a charge. I guess they thought different. That was a big turning point in the game.”

“It took a lot of wind out of the sails because I feel like everyone on our team thought it was a for sure charge and we were going to go down and keep pushing,” Mobley said. “But it completely changed the momentum of the whole game.”
 
My goodness I despise the sixers and the way the refs treat this team. I almost cannot watch games against them because of it. They get a different set of rules than any other team and I don't understand how or why. That overturn was about the worst call of the entire season... I can't remember one that was worse, especially considering the gravity of the call. Embiid can say whatever bull shit he wants, that was a clear as day offensive foul and there is no other way to look at something like that being overturned than to say the refs MAJORLY bailed that team out.
 
My goodness I despise the sixers and the way the refs treat this team. I almost cannot watch games against them because of it. They get a different set of rules than any other team and I don't understand how or why. That overturn was about the worst call of the entire season... I can't remember one that was worse, especially considering the gravity of the call. Embiid can say whatever bull shit he wants, that was a clear as day offensive foul and there is no other way to look at something like that being overturned than to say the refs MAJORLY bailed that team out.

It's fine, they will get smacked in the playoffs like they do every season. Harden and Embiid rely way too much on flops,, when refs allow more physicality in the playoffs theyre screwed.
 

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