76ers vs. Cavs: Doc Rivers Ready to Quickly Move Past Beatdown
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The Philadelphia 76ers have found plenty of success lately, even while missing their star trio of Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and James Harden. After getting Embiid back in the mix on Monday night after going 3-1 during his four-game absence, the Sixers benefitted from the big man’s return and formed a comeback to snag their fourth win in five games.
After delivering a loss to the Hawks at home, the Sixers hit the road to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night. Although Embiid was cleared for action once again, the Sixers remained short-handed without Harden and Maxey on the road with them.
Whatever worked for the Sixers over the past week clearly wasn’t applied to Wednesday’s game. The Sixers drained 42 percent of their shots on 19 attempts in the first quarter. From three, they struggled as they went 1-8.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers found early success from the field as they knocked down 55 percent of their shots, outscoring the Sixers 25-21 in the first quarter. You couldn’t predict a blowout was brewing in Cleveland during the first quarter on Wednesday night, but the second quarter guaranteed one was on its way.
Cleveland couldn’t miss before going into halftime. Putting up 17 shots from the field in the second quarter, the Cavs hit on all but one of their field goals. From deep, they were perfect by going 5-5. The Cavs nearly hung 70 points against the Sixers before halftime while holding Philly to under 30 points in the second quarter. By halftime, the 76ers trailed by 21 points.
Following up with a near-perfect shooting quarter was highly unlikely for the Cavaliers, but the fact that they drained even half of their shots in the third quarter put them in a position to avoid any comeback the Sixers might've had in store. While the 76ers chucked up more shots than Cleveland in an attempt to get a rally going, they barely drained 30 percent of their attempts.
The Sixers don’t have a ton of bench depth at the moment, with injuries forcing their reserves to play notable playing time, but Doc Rivers did what he could to empty the bench and get key players some rest down the stretch of Wednesday’s blowout loss.
“You could see it early; we were dead, and we were flat,” Rivers told reporters after the game. “Sometimes, you get into the game, and you get into it — there were no signs of that tonight. You can just see it offensively and defensively. I mean, they were shooting 73 percent in the first half. You’re never going to win that game.”
The Sixers won’t learn much from Wednesday’s loss in Cleveland aside from the fact that the Cavaliers are a stellar young squad even while missing one of their All-Stars. While the Sixers have found success against Cleveland in the past, the Cavaliers put Philly on notice Wednesday night as they dominated Philly 113-85, sending the Sixers to Memphis with a 12-10 record.
“It was a scheduled loss. That’s how it felt," Rivers finished. "When you can see guys that just have no energy and no legs. Yeah, so, not much tonight. ... We’re not gonna learn anything from this. We just throw this away, then go on to Memphis. That’s how I felt.”
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
