Also, who had the Cavs going on a 4-game win streak with two wins coming against the Nuggets and Sixers without Donovan Mitchell, Caris LeVert, and Isaac Okoro?
The Cavs came out playing well and it didn’t stop until deep into the 2nd half after a Darius Garland injury and a switch-up in defensive strategy by the Sixers. The Cavs led by as much as 18 and ended up winning by 3. More on that later.
Garland was relentless in punishing Joel Embiid on the pick-and-roll all night. The Sixers have Embiid play drop coverage, or sagging off of the pick-and-roll to cover the paint. This created opportunities for Garland in the mid-range, and for big men drop off’s all night. The Cavs went to this on a pretty consistent basis.
Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen were passing well between each other all night. With their bigs playing drop coverage, oftentimes the Cavs player met by the drop big was finding the backside Cavs player cutting to the rim. The Sixers defensive rotations were a bit slow on the backside allowing for easy buckets all night. When you have Max Strus, Dean Wade and Georges Niang in the corners, defenses have more to think about.
Credit to Jarrett Allen for really stepping up tonight. He finished with 26 points, 13 rebounds (6 offensive), and 3 assists in 35 minutes of play. Allen was extremely effective around the rim offensively all night, and benefited from Garland getting into the paint creating opportunities. I appreciated the aggressiveness of Allen challenging Embiid for a couple of would-be posters despite Embiid coming out the winner both times. Allen did his best battling Embiid on the defensive end, going toe-to-toe with him for most of the night.
The Sixers were really pushing the pace for most of the night. 8 of their first 16 points were fast break points, and they finished as a +18 for the night. Sixers were pushing off of misses and oftentimes the Cavs were slow in getting back.
Key stretch in the 1st quarter – The Cavs went with a five-man lineup of CRAIG! Porter Jr, Sam Merrill, Dean Wade, Georges Niang and Tristan Thompson, against a Joel Embiid lead Sixers lineup. Going into the season, I wouldn’t have fathomed to write those words in a game that mattered, in the first quarter and a game the Cavs ultimately won. Somehow that group only managed to lose one point in four minutes allowing the Cavs to head into the 2nd quarter with a three point lead.
There aren’t enough expletives to describe CRAIG! Porter Jr at this point, but every play seems to come with an exclamation, thus he will be known as CRAIG! from now on.
CRAIG! with another ho-hum 12 points, 9 assists (!), 3 rebounds, 1 block, a +21 and some key offensive plays late in OT. The pace, purpose and poise he plays with on a consistent basis is extremely impressive for any player let alone for being an undrafted rookie. Again, CRAIG! was consistently getting into the paint creating scoring opportunities for himself and others. The hanging layup against Embiid and the dump off for an easy bucket in OT was *chefs kiss*
The Cavs were incredibly dominant in the paint which is saying something with a team that has Embiid. The Cavs finished +16 at points in the paint and +12 in rebounds. They also did a better job limiting offensive rebounds and second chance points, which has been a pain point this season.
The Cavs were grappling with foul trouble all night. Mobley had two early fouls, and Embiid was creating disadvantages on anyone who guarded him. Wade, Mobley, Allen and Strus all finished with 5 fouls on the night but Embiid is ultimately the one who fouled out.
The Cavs were more efficient from the field and three-point line but the Sixers were able to hang around by getting to the foul line. The Sixers were +7 on made free throws and made 34 trips to the line. The disparity would have been greater had it not been for some fouls late in OT putting the Cavs at the line. Embiid is such a tough handle due to his dexterity and physicality which is a tough match for any big in the league.
Another key stretch, this one in the 3rd quarter. The Sixers were chipping away at the lead and managed to get it to 8 (before the Cavs were playing with a double digit lead for quite some time). The Cavs responded by pushing the lead back to 13, forcing the Sixers to call a timeout. The Sixers didn’t get close again until a few minutes left in the 4th. The Cavs did a good job of holding off the Sixers for as long as they could despite the Sixers second half runs.
A real turning point in the 3rd quarter was a Garland hand injury. It was hard to tell what exactly happened, or the lasting effects (I’d be shocked if he plays tomorrow night against the Heat) but Garland was struggling to control his shot and dribble after his right wrist/hand was impacted. After that, momentum swung the Sixers way as the Cavs struggled to find their way offensively.
Another part of the Cavs second half offensive struggles was the Sixers defensive pressure, and change in defensive strategy. Seeing as the Cavs really only had one ball-handler on the floor in Garland, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse deployed a high pressure defense often forcing the ball out of Garland’s hands, picking up full court, and getting up into guys outside the three-point line. This worked, as it sped up the Cavs, forced other guys outside of Garland to handle and playmake, and really stymied any Cavs offensive flow.
Good John Blair Bickerstaff: On the final possession of the 4th quarter and in a key possession in OT, Tristan Thompson was tasked with guarding Embiid. Both times Thompson held his own. Thompson has now played a key role in helping provide relief against Nikola Jokic and Embiid in back-to-back games. Thompson may not be able to stay with some of the other modern NBA centers but Thompson has enough strength and athleticism to give guys like Jokic, Embiid, DeAndre Ayton, etc., trouble because he’s strong enough to withstand his ground but also still athletic enough to move laterally with them. Props to Thompson for some really good minutes tonight.
Bad John Blair Bickerstaff: Going with Dean Wade for as long as he did in the 4th and OT. When it was clear the Sixers were feasting with only one primary ball-handler on the court, Bickerstaff elected to keep CRAIG! on the bench for Wade. Wade had a strong game rebounding the ball (8 rebounds) and was the primary defender on Tyrese Maxey for most of the game, but wasn’t hitting shots (0-4 from 3PT) and couldn’t help relive the defensive pressure the Sixers were applying late. Sure enough, late into OT Bickerstaff made the switch and on cue CRAIG! made a tremendous hanging layup against Embiid, and followed that up with a dump off to Allen for an easy bucket.
Anyone ready for a Niang revenge game was welcomed to 12 points (2-4 from 3PT), 7 rebounds and a +12 off the bench.
I can’t say enough about Strus’ all-around game. He was hot from 3 (5-10), but also collected five rebounds, dished out 6 assists and was the primary defender on Maxey at times throughout the night. He’s shaping up to be quite the addition to this team and starting lineup.
Mobley collected another effective 18 point, 12 rebound, 3 assist and one (huge) block game.
Next up: Wednesday night at home against the Heat.
There’s a group winner and a wild card (second place team) from each group that will go to the elimination round.
The Cavs would be this group’s wild card if they beat Atlanta next week. If they lose there would be a 3way tie with them Philly and Atlanta. The tie breaker would go to Philly because of point differential. Philly is a plus 9. Cavs are currently plus 6.
The knockout round will be the 8 teams (top 2 from each group). They will play single elimination games Dec 4th and 5th.
The winners of those games will play Dec 7th and the championship on Dec9.
The short summary for the Cavs…beat Atlanta and they are in the knockout round
imagine putting in a rookie PG to calm things down on the road in an intense q4 showdown against a championship contender. Then imagine is working. CRAIG!
And just what is up with these refs giving Embiid so much love? Honestly the whole Sixers team. It was like TNT called in that the game had to be close. On that note, that Garland banked 3 with the shot clock going off was, gulp, the difference.
You can see how Mitchell really would have helped in q4 when we needed a bucket. This is lightweight a critical juncture when he returns:
-does he see it any differently with how we look when we keep the ball moving? Can he buy into that? He has before - we have had a period of games last year where we were absolutely moving the ball around really well.
-can he stay within the structure *but* learn when to go into his bag when the game demands it? Can he then get right back into structure?
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