Cavs’ second-half rally falls short in 118-112 loss to Philadelphia 76ers

PHILADELPHIA — So much for that seven-game winning streak. So much for that perfect February. So much for that opportunity to draw even with one of their Eastern Conference rivals. So much for finishing the first half the right way.

Despite a furious late-game comeback attempt, the Cavs lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, 118-112, on Wednesday night. It’s Cleveland’s first loss of the season against Philly — a head-to-head matchup that could become important as the calendar closes in on the final few months. There’s one game remaining between the two teams that are suddenly battling for the conference’s third spot — and it’s on March 15 in Cleveland.

“I thought they did a great job of physically taking us out of our stuff,” Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after the loss. “They were aggressive, both ends of the floor. They were physical. It just took us a little too long to recover from that first punch. Great lessons for us. I think in the second half our guys showed what they’re capable of, and we just have to find ways to understand the moment. We allowed them to put a little bit of doubt in our minds early, but we figured it out a little bit later.”

A few days before Wednesday’s highly anticipated showdown, following Brooklyn’s trade deadline teardown, the ESPN schedule-makers flexed out of Nets-Heat, choosing what they thought would be a much more interesting — and competitive — game.

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It took a while, but TV executives got their wish.

The third-seeded Sixers got off to a blistering start at both ends of the floor, building a 21-point lead seven minutes into the first quarter and forcing Bickerstaff to call two timeouts.

By halftime, Philadelphia led 63-38. At one point near the end of the third quarter, confetti even started falling from the rafters. Someone in the arena sensed a 76ers triumph.

But the young, feisty Cavs nearly made it a regretful and premature celebration. Finally settled after taking Philly’s best shot early, the Cavs started surging back, coming within a few possessions of erasing a game-high 28-point deficit. They dominated the second half, outscoring the 76ers, 74-55, over those final 24 turnaround minutes. The Cavs even pulled within four points three different times near the end. But that’s as close as they got.

Too little, too late.

The Cavs never led. There were no ties. A wire-to-wire assertion from one of the East’s elite.

“What you saw tonight was a grizzled veteran team that was going to make a statement early,” Bickerstaff said. “Our guys are having to figure out what that feels like. We got punched in the face. It took us a little bit longer to recover than I would have liked. But in the second half, we came out and recovered. This is a lesson for us on trust. It showed that once we trust each other and believe in ourselves, we can compete with anybody.”

All-Star starter Donovan Mitchell finished with 33 points on 11 of 24 shooting and 4 of 11 from 3-point range in 42 minutes. He scored 25 of those points in a brilliant second half.

“I honestly think we just found things that worked,” Mitchell explained. “They played well. They came out aggressive. We just continued to trust it and played with a little more, I don’t want to call it a sense of urgency, but I think we just played with a little more force. Realized we could get downhill, get open shots, make plays defensively and that’s what allowed us to put that stuff together.”

Backcourt mate Darius Garland chipped in with 23 points.

Evan Mobley also rebounded from a wretched start, tallying 21 of his 23 points in the second half. Jarrett Allen added 12 points, including eight over the final two quarters.

Philadelphia was led by MVP candidate Joel Embiid, who poured in 29 points. James Harden tallied 19. All five Sixers starters reached double figures. Their bench outpaced Cleveland’s, 30-12, on a night the Cavs didn’t have second-unit mainstays Ricky Rubio (illness) or Cedi Osman (neck spasms).

Before tipoff, Bickerstaff spoke about the mental challenge of playing the final game before the All-Star break. He said it was the coaching staff’s job to make sure there wasn’t any letup from how the team had been playing. No looking forward. Lock in.

For most of the night, it seemed the Cavs decided to start their All-Star break a day early.

Welcome back

Veteran Danny Green, who began his career with the Cavs in 2009 and spent a few years in Philadelphia, officially signed a rest-of-season deal to rejoin Cleveland early Wednesday morning, hours before the team’s shootaround. Despite having little prep time, Green logged 12 minutes in his debut, getting a bigger-than-expected opportunity with Osman a late addition to the injury report.

Upon checking in with 5:17 remaining in the second quarter, Green was greeted with adoration from the Wells Fargo Center crowd.

Green finished with three points on 1 of 4 shooting and 1 of 3 from 3-point range.

Up next

The Cavs will head to the All-Star break. They won’t return until Thursday, Feb. 23, when they host the Denver Nuggets. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

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