Joel Embiid, Sixers not happy with lack of physicality in loss to Cavs

PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers had a chance to keep their hopes alive in the in-season tournament on Tuesday when they played host to the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they got off to a slow start. The Cavs led by as many as 12 in the first half and the lead ballooned to 18 in the third quarter.

The Sixers eventually worked their way back into the game as they took a brief lead in the fourth quarter and forced overtime, but they fell to the Cavs 122-119 in the extra session and they saw their hopes of advancing dashed.

Joel Embiid, who had 32 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists before fouling out in overtime, was not happy with the way the Sixers started the game off.

“We didn’t get into the ball,” Embiid said bluntly. “It was too easy for them. No physicality. They got whatever they wanted. Like I said, we didn’t get into the ball, and we also didn’t cover none of the gaps so they had opportunities to just make plays whether it was getting to the basket and if—I don’t know—whoever was guarding the big stepped up, they were just throwing lobs. I thought we did a better job in the second half.”

To Embiid’s point, the Cavaliers, particularly Darius Garland, were constantly getting into the paint. Philadelphia’s perimeter defenders had a tough time with him at the point of attack and that meant guys like Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, and others were there for easy dunks and layups.

The Sixers then stepped up and met the challenge that Cleveland presented, but by that point, the damage from the first half was too great to overcome.

“I think we were on a scale of one to 10 physicality-wise, we were a two and then we took it to a nine or 10 and the second half,” added coach Nick Nurse. “I think that it did make us have to chase the game a little bit.”

After the Cavs shot 58.7% from the floor in the first half, the Sixers held them to 39.5% shooting after halftime. That was a big difference in helping them get back into the game, but Philadelphia needed that to begin the game as well.

“We talked about it,” Embiid added. “We saw how easy it was for their guards to just come in and make plays and we just wanna be more physical and we did a better job at that.”

For a team like the Sixers who have visions of a championship, there aren’t any real moral victories to lean on. They needed to come out with better energy to start this one. They didn’t and it cost them.

“It was definitely a slow start for us getting going and they were making shots, but really, they were pretty much carving up our defense in the pick-and-roll, catching lobs,” added Tobias Harris. “Just not enough physicality defensively and letting them dictate where they wanted to go all throughout the first half, but obviously, that happened. I thought in the second half, we picked it up, and had some more energy, had some more pop to us, more physicality. Offensively, we made some better reads out there. No moral victories, but it’s a good fight.”