By: Kylan Watson

After falling to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night, the Philadelphia 76ers faced the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight for the final time this season. The Cavaliers were able to use a late first quarter scoring explosion from Donovan Mitchell to blow this game wide open and beat Philly 115-101.

The Sixers did not have Tyrese Maxey (sprained finger), Joel Embiid (Right oblique recovery), Paul George (suspension), or VJ Edgecombe (Lumbard contusion) available for this contest. Philly’s role players did their best to keep this game competitive at least in the first quarter, but Donovan Mitchell found his offensive rhythm late in that quarter. He scored 11 of his 17 points in that period and Philly could not contain him because of the lack of wing depth in this game. Mitchell attacked the basket and opened multiple high-percentage scoring opportunities for his teammates which they were able to cash in on throughout this contest. When Mitchell has it working like he did in this game the Cavs are unstoppable on both sides of the ball and are very formidable as they head into postseason.

Despite not having their top four scorers available in this game, the Sixers put up an impressive effort, but the lack of talent bit them throughout this game and turning the ball over 20 times in this game would make the Cavs lead insurmountable for an overmatched Philly squad.

Quentin Grimes tried his best to keep the Sixers in this game and scored 17 points in this contest, however Philly needed way more fire power against the Cavaliers and did not get it from anyone else in this game. Kelly Oubre Jr. was in foul trouble throughout this game and could not find his rhythm and now the Sixers are fighting to stay afloat as the race for the sixth spot increases. They need to get healthy fast and with VJ Edgecombe inching closer to returning the fortunes might shift for them, but until Maxey, Embiid and George return they need every role player who touches the floor to put together good effort through their time on the court.

James Harden(21 points) and Keon Ellis (19 points) put this game to bed for Cleveland they combined for 40 of Cleveland’s 115 points and it seemed like every Sixers miscue resulted in a bucket for either player which help the Cavs pull away in this game.

Nick Nurse and the Sixers coaching staff need to get creative and find ways to scheme their role players into favorable matchups. To make the offense as simple as possible for players who have not touched the floor in awhile at least for the next few games which will be pivotal in keeping the Sixers slim hopes for the sixth seed alive.

Philly will now prepare to face the Memphis Grizzlies in South Philly tomorrow night. Additionally, they will need to limit their turnovers, win or keep the rebounding battle competitive, stay connected to their defensive matchups, and cash in on the high-percentage scoring opportunities created by their ball movement. Implementing these things into the game plan for tomorrow night will put the Sixers in good shape to win their 35^th game of the season.