By: Kylan Watson

After beating the Charlotte Hornets last night, the Sixers faced the Cleveland Cavaliers who are the best team in the NBA. Despite impressive first and third quarter scoring performances, Philly just could not keep up with Cleveland’s explosive offense and fell to them 126-99.

The Sixers started this game off hot. They found their offensive rhythm early in the contest, thanks to Tyrese Maxey who contributed 27 points in this contest and made 5/10 three-point opportunities in tonight’s game. He did all he could to keep the Sixers in this game, but Philly did not get enough scoring from anybody else to stay in this game.

This was the second half of a back-to-back for Philly, but it is inexcusable to play like they did tonight on the offensive side of the ball. There was way too much standing around and iso ball on their offensive side. During one exchange in this game the Sixers had a chance to cut Cleveland’s 11-point lead to single digits in the fourth quarter. They missed the shot, and the Cavaliers came down on their next possession and hit a three-pointer to stay ahead of the Sixers. This game was right there against a tough opponent and Philly did not do enough to put themselves in good enough position to beat the Cavaliers.

On the defensive side they gave up multiple high-percentage shooting opportunities to Cleveland and they made them pay for it. Especially from the three-point line where the Cavaliers made 22/43 of their three-point opportunities and that margin alone buried Philly in this contest. Cleveland’s ball movement was just too much for the Sixers to overcome without Joel Embiid on the floor.

Embiid’s presence clearly covers up a lot of Philly’s issues on both sides of the ball, but even he could not help them in this contest. Darius Garland (26 points) and Evan Mobley (22 points) were just too much for the Sixers in this contest. The paint was open without Embiid’s presence and both Mobley and Garland took full advantage of it. They were able to attack the paint and get their defenders in foul trouble and forced the Sixers to play a zone defensive scheme. Which the Cavaliers shot them out of through their three-point shooting. When the opposing team is great at taking and making three-pointers, you cannot give them multiple opportunities to create a wide-open three-point opportunity.

However, that is exactly what Philly did in this contest and Cleveland made them pay for their defensive lapses. The Sixers must play better defense and get Paul George more involved in the offense, if they want to win games without Embiid on the floor then they will need George to be his best self on the floor. George not getting at least a touch through multiple offensive possessions cannot happen, especially when the Sixers are already in a deep hole in the loaded Eastern Conference. They need his two-way ability to keep them in games and that will come with getting him more involved on the offensive side. Especially, as they enter a tough two game stretch which puts them up against the San Antonio Spurs (12-23-24) and the Boston Celtics (12-25-24) in the next couple of days. Beating both of those teams will require them to play their game and not give up 20 plus three-point opportunities to their opponent.

Philly will now prepare for the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night which should see another matchup between Victor Wembanyama and Joel Embiid. Even if the Sixers get Embiid back for Monday night they will need to improve on the defensive side. They cannot give-up high-percentage shooting opportunities to a Spurs team, who are looking to take advantage of their youth advantage to run their opponent off the court. Forcing San Antonio to play in the half-court works to their advantage and limiting them to one possession should help them keep up with San Antonio’s explosive offense.

In addition, the Sixers must get more players involved in the offensive scheme. Now that becomes a lot easier with the amount of high-percentage shooting opportunities Embiid creates. However, his teammates must cash in on their shooting opportunities something they did not do in this contest. The Sixers need someone else to put points on the board other than Embiid, Maxey, and George. Once those players show up that adds another dimension to the Sixers offensive and defensive capabilities.

Implementing these things into the game plan for Monday night should put Philly in great position to win their 10^th game of the season and make a statement against another quality opponent.