- Welp, that was a dousy. The Cavs played from behind for most of the game and had a chance to win but in the end, it just wasn’t their night.
- To give you an idea of the type of night it was, Kelly Oubre took and made a pull-up transition three-point shot up 7 points with a 1:30 left in the game to go up 10. Typically, those are possessions you run the time out on but not Oubre. The lack of time taken off probably gave the Cavs a chance, but that shot probably also was too much to overcome that late.
- Beginning of the game was who could score more points in the paint. 12 of the Cavs first 14 points were in the paint and they didn’t make a three-point shot until the 6:30 mark in the first quarter. They proceeded to make three straight threes after that.
- The teams combined for 67 first quarter points, with 40 of those points coming from the paint.
- The Sixers started the game with four turnovers in the first four minutes. Their next turnover wouldn’t come until 7:50 in the third quarter.
- Typically, those slow opponent starts is when the Cavs would jump all over teams and get out to an early lead. They converted on two of those Sixer turnovers but were only up four points at that time.
- Caris LeVert continued to be an efficient playmaker early in the game with some nifty finds. He’s really taken to more of a creator role on the second unit, and finished the first quarter with five (!) assists. He only had one the rest of the night.
- The Sixers proceeded to rattle off a 11-2 over a 90 second span with three three-pointers in four possessions. Not a great way to end a quarter.
- The Sixers ended the quarter shooting a blistering 67% from the field. You can’t win too many games that way although the Cavs were only down by one.
- The story of the night for the Cavs defense is they picked a bad night to have a bad night. The Sixers were relentless in getting to the front of the rim. They were often beating their man off the dribble, and taking it downhill to the rim for a shot attempt or creating a perimeter shot attempt whenever the help rotated.
- The other part of it was the Sixers being above their head in shot making on the night. Tip your hat to them but there were several shots throughout that just made you throw your hands it. I would suspect the Sixers are bound to see a positive regression after this game.
- To that point, I didn’t love subbing out Isaac Okoro for Sam Merrill to start the second quarter. It’s these small things that add up and matter in the end. I get trying to find minutes for Merrill but in a lineup with Darius Garland, LeVert, Georges Niang and Evan Mobley and Tyrese Maxey on the other side may not be the best time. The Cavs needed Okoro’s point of attack defense more than they needed some quick threes. Sure enough, Maxey proceeded to hit the second quarter’s first eight points.
- That five-man lineup was a -6 in just under five minutes of play.
- One positive did come from the second quarter: Another Mobley made three-point attempt. In the flow, spot-up and off action is exactly what you want to see. The more he makes these, the more it opens up the offense. He finished the night one of two from deep.
- Donovan Mitchell had a really efficient first half with 15 points on 7 shots. The second half, not so much. 20 points on 13 shots with the bulk coming at the free throw line (11-14).
- In the first half it seemed like the Sixers were making all of the hustle, extra effort plays. Once they started to feel good about themselves offensively, it bled over into other parts of their game and really gave them energy, energy the Cavs were not really matching.
- And to their credit, the Cavs were pushing to get the lead but every time the Cavs pushed, the Sixers would push right back and extend the lead.
- The third quarter is the only quarter the Cavs won all night. It’s also the only one the Sixers were held to under 30 points and under 50 FG% in a quarter. That’s usually not a good sign.
- The Sixers also did not make a three the entire quarter but the Cavs were only able to make up five points in the quarter.
- The Niang minutes were tough. He finished with 0 points (0-4 FG, 0-2 3P), 5 rebounds, 1 turnover, 1 technical foul and a -7. Dean Wade being out ill really forced the Cavs to give up a lot defensively when Allen and Mobley were not paired together.
- Speaking of tough, did I mention the Sixers were hitting tough shots all night?
- The third quarter is when you thought the Cavs just may be kicking it into gear. Following a JB Bickerstaff timeout that saw the Cavs go down 9, they issued an 11-0 run with Garland assisting or scoring on 10 of the 11 points. They briefly broke through the lead for the first time since the first quarter.
- For as much as LeVert helped the Cavs play make in the first, his shot making in the third quarter let them down. There were a few threes where he had a chance to really swing the momentum but was unable to convert. He finished the quarter two of six from the field.
- It’s those quarters or moments within games that make you pull your hair out with LeVert. The five-assist quarter is brilliant, but then the off-script missed shots are off-putting.
- From the one-minute mark of the third quarter to about the nine-minute mark of the fourth quarter, the Cavs issued a 10-4 run and were really starting to connect stops with conversions on the other end and seemed poised to push through the lead.
- But then came the Sixers style 15-4 Cavalanche and five missed three-pointers for the Cavs in that span. After a LeVert layup put the Cavs up two, they would quickly be down nine in a three-minute span. This was really the backbreaker for the Cavs.
- However, the Cavs would not go down without a fight. After the dreaded Oubre transition pull-up three, they went on a 9-0 run to get within one with :14 seconds left.
- The Cavs had some help with a missed free-throw, some offensive rebounds and a clutch Mitchell three-pointer but they had a chance.
- Unfortunately, it was just not the Cavaliers night. On a last chance possession, a Mitchell blocked shot led to a potential game winning assist for a Garland three-pointer in the corner he could not convert as time expired. Coming into the night, Garland shot 45% (9-20) on corner threes.
- It’s the type of shot you want and can only ask for after a game like that. They had a chance to win it and could not make it happen.
- The Cavs finished with 33 assists. That’s tied for the fourth highest game total on the year. They also shot 47.8% from the field, and 80% (20 FTM) from the free throw line – offense was not the problem.
- Again, defense was. 54.5 FG% was the fourth worst FG% allowed by the Cavs this year. Only two of those top ten performances have come in 2024.
- The Sixers had a whopping 60 points in the paint.
- The Cavs only got 19 bench points on the night with it coming from two players.
- Remember that stat about the Cavs record when Mobley and Allen record a double-double? Yeah, you can add a second loss in there
- Outside of Garland’s missed three, he kinda looked back? One of his better performances since he returned, Garland notched 21 points, 9 assists, 3-8 3P, 1 steal and no turnovers. He was a -8 on the night but certainly good to see him rounding back into form.
- Circle the February 23 date in Philadelphia on ESPN. That should be fun.
- Up next: Cavs take on Chicago on Wednesday on ESPN for the final game of the first half. Tip is at 7:30PM (ET).
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