![]() triple, but they regularly made basic miscues and squandered opportunities in the third quarter to eat further into Cleveland's lead. The Sixers fought back and pulled within eight points on a second-chance Danuel House Jr. Two more Strus three-pointers extended the Cavs' advantage to 71-53 early in the third quarter. I think it did make us have to chase the game a little bit.” Sixers scrap through mistakes but fall short And then we took it to 9 or 10 in the second half. I think, on a scale of 1 to 10 physicality-wise, we were 2. “Just make sure we don’t try to ease into the game. is we’ve got to understand that’s a good team coming in,” Nurse said after the game. Not much went well for the Sixers over the first two quarters. Still, the team’s first glimpse of that particular small-ball unit wasn’t encouraging. Nurse’s experimentation was fair enough given Embiid’s foul trouble and the Sixers’ overall subpar play with conventional lineups in the first half. Niang canned a catch-and-shoot three over Batum, Strus made a long, buzzer-beating jumper, and Cleveland headed to halftime with a dozen-point lead. His team executed much better to close the first half. Bickerstaff then decided to go full-blown small ball as well, subbing Mobley out for Wade. In between a De’Anthony Melton put-back dunk and a Melton and-one layup, Mobley missed a short hook shot. The initial results were positive for the Sixers. Cleveland, with Batum guarding Evan Mobley. Those two comprised the Sixers’ frontcourt late in the second vs. Nurse had said Monday that Batum and Morris Morris Sr. Embiid soon did too, leading to an interesting stint of small ball. After his fourth scoreless first quarter in the past five games, Maxey posted 12 points in the second.Īllen picked up his third foul late in the second period. Maxey’s shotmaking kept the Sixers from falling into a deeper hole. The Cavs built their lead to double digits during a stretch that included a long-range jumper by former Sixer Georges Niang and three consecutive Allen buckets. Nurse got him back in to play alongside Embiid and three bench players late in the first quarter. There was obviously some randomness in how dramatic an early impact Batum made Tuesday, but the 34-year-old forward has legitimately been a very influential role player right away for the Sixers. Forty of Cleveland’s first 52 points were in the paint. The Sixers struggled to knock down jumpers around Embiid and allowed the Cavs to do tons of damage inside. With Batum out, Cleveland went on an 11-0 spurt. Tyrese Maxey made an elbow entry to Batum out of Horns and Embiid sealed his man deep in the paint. On the Sixers’ next possession, they ran the same quick-hitting action that got Embiid a lay-in for the first basket of their win Sunday over the Nets. He also assisted an Embiid and-one layup by declining a potential jumper and instead dishing the ball back to Embiid as he plowed down the middle of the floor. ![]() The Sixers began 1 for 6 from the floor and Cleveland started 2 for 8.īatum then played an integral part in an 8-0 Sixers run that gave the team a 15-10 edge.īatum scored a layup following a slick cut behind the defense and drained a wide-open corner three-pointer set up by an effective pump fake. ![]() Neither offense was near its best in the opening minutes. ![]() Here are observations on their OT defeat to the Cavs: A Batum-centric first quarter The 10-4 Sixers will travel to Minnesota and play the 10-3 Timberwolves on Wednesday night. Asked whether Oubre could possibly come back around that time, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said “there might be a chance,” provided the 27-year-old handles the progression to contact drills well.Ĭleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro and Ty Jerome were out with injuries. The Sixers said pregame that Oubre, who returned to the practice court Monday, will be re-evaluated in approximately one week. The semifinals and championship will be in Las Vegas on Dec. In all likelihood, they'll watch the NBA Cup quarterfinals on Dec. Though not yet technically eliminated, the Sixers' odds of being the lone Eastern Conference wild card team are extremely small. The Pacers clinched the group Tuesday by beating the Hawks. In the NBA’s first in-season tournament, the Sixers finished with a 2-2 East Group A record. ![]() The Cavs’ top scorers were Darius Garland (32 points), Jarrett Allen (26 points) and Max Strus (20). Tyrese Maxey tallied 30 points and six assists. Joel Embiid missed a game-winning jumper attempt over Tristan Thompson on the final possession of regulation.Įmbiid had 32 points on 9-for-21 shooting, 13 rebounds, five assists, five blocks and two steals. Cleveland's Dean Wade broke up a Nicolas Batum inbounds pass on the last play of overtime. ![]()
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