By: Kylan Watson
The Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers faced off in the final game of the group stage of the In-Season Tournament. Both teams traded blows throughout this game and the Cavs were able to outexecute the Sixers when it mattered most. Darius Garland just refused to let his team lose and he hit some clutch shots to beat Philly 122-119 in an overtime thriller.
Philly started this game off sluggishly. They did not hit their shots early in this game, and the Cavaliers took full advantage of the early power outage. They were able to put the Sixers on their heels early in this game by hitting their shots and shutting down Philly’s offensive opportunities. The trio of Darius Garland (32-points), Jarret Allen (26-points), and Max Strus (20-points) led them they combined for 78 of Cleveland’s 122-points. Philly had no answers for them and it did not matter if the shots were wide-open or contested. They found the bottom of the net and were back breakers to the Sixers offensive momentum. Additionally, the Cavs got the 50/50 balls which led to an eight-point rebound advantage. That ultimately did the Sixers in tonight you cannot continue to give a team with shooters multiple opportunities to hit a shot. They will make you pay for it and that is what happened to the Sixers tonight.
Despite the offensive explosion from Garland, Allen, and Strus it was right there for the Sixers to steal this game. They were able to re-take the lead from the Cavaliers thanks to an offensive explosion from Joel Embiid (32-points, grabbed 13-rebounds, and five-assists), Tyrese Maxey (30-points), and Tobias Harris (23-points) combined for 85 of the Sixers 119-points. These players did everything they could to keep the Sixers in the game but defensive lapses and missed shots cost them in this contest. Harris has continued his hot shooting and aggressive play and it has unlocked another dimension to the Sixers offensive capabilities. If he continues playing like this the Sixers will be able to go far in the loaded Eastern Conference.
The Sixers will now prepare for a Thanksgiving Eve matchup with the surging Minnesota Timberwolves. They will need to stay attached to their man if they want to slow Anthony Edwards down and keep Minnesota’s explosive offense in check. Philly will need to keep the ball movement going to continue to get high percentage shot opportunities and continue to make it hard for opposing defenses to key in on Embiid, Maxey, and Harris. If they can implement these things, they can get their 11th win of the season.
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