76ers Avoid Second Half Collapse vs. Cavaliers on Wednesday

The Sixers took care of business on their home court with the Cavaliers visiting on Wednesday.

On Wednesday night, the Philadelphia 76ers looked to head into the All-Star break with a bang. With three-straight wins under their belt after a blowout against the Houston Rockets on Monday, the Sixers had one more tough task to take care of before they take a week off.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were in town for the first time this season. Wednesday marked the second outing between the Cavs and the Sixers this year. In the late November matchup, the Cavaliers issued the Sixers their toughest loss of the year at the time.

Snapping a Sixers’ five-game win streak over the Cavs, Cleveland dominated Philadelphia with a 113-85 victory. At the time, Doc Rivers claimed the Sixers took on a scheduled loss. On Wednesday, they had to prove they could handle the thriving young Eastern Conference playoff contenders. 

Quarter Breakdown

1st Quarter

The Sixers didn’t waste any time getting an offensive rhythm going on Wednesday night. Right out of the gate, the Sixers got the ball to their veteran forward, Tobias Harris, who drilled his first attempt from beyond the arc. Harris’ first make would start a popular offensive trend for Philly.

Both teams were productive on offense in the opening minutes. Within two minutes, the Sixers and Cavaliers traded baskets, with Philly getting a slight edge by picking up a 10-8 lead. While the Sixers’ offense did seem to be pressing at first, they quickly cleaned up their act and went to work.

James Harden was putting slick moves on his opponent and getting open shots with ease. Meanwhile, Joel Embiid notched a new career milestone as his early And-1 conversion helped the big man exceed 10,000 points, as his chase for Maurice Cheeks’ spot on the franchise’s All-Time leading scorer list continues. 

Philly forced Cleveland into a timeout halfway through the quarter as the Sixers got off to a 21-10 start. That quick break didn’t slow the Sixers down. 

Tobias Harris continued cooking from the field as he knocked down another three and collected a two-point basket to pick up eight early points. As a whole, Philadelphia’s offense was perfect from deep through the first seven minutes as they made all six of their makes from deep to get off to a 31-10 run.

The second timeout helped the Cavaliers more than their first break, but the Sixers still made it out of the first quarter with a commanding 38-24 lead. 

2nd Quarter

After a hot scoring quarter for the Sixers to begin the game, the team’s new acquisition Jalen McDaniels started the second quarter with a slam dunk that brought tons of energy to the Wells Fargo Center. Doc Rivers’ all-bench unit to start the second quarter helped the Sixers get to their 40th point of the night within seconds.

Through the first four minutes, the Sixers’ defense prevented the Cavaliers from converting on any of their field goal attempts. During that time, Cleveland generated just four points, which came from the free-throw line. With a little over seven minutes left, Cleveland broke the field-goal-less streak with an alley-oop dunk from Lamar Stevens.

The Sixers answered that with an immediate driving finger roll layup from Tyrese Maxey. Then, the Sixers forced a turnover off of a bad pass from Darius Garland, which resulted in a transition dunk by Tobias Harris. At that point, Doc Rivers brought the starters back out on the floor as the team possessed a 50-30 lead.

Unsurprisingly, the starters that re-entered the matchup kept the momentum going for the Sixers. With a new lineup, the Sixers tacked on 13 more points. Defensively, they held the Cavaliers to just 14 points in the second quarter, as Cleveland made just 21 percent of their shots from the field. 

Going into halftime, the Sixers had a 63-38 lead. 

3rd Quarter

Looking to try and get out of their second-quarter shooting slump, the Cavaliers came out firing in the second half with two-straight successful baskets from Darius Garland. The Sixers had an answer, however. With around eight minutes left to go in the third quarter, Embiid started a quick run with a successful And-1. De’Anthony Melton and PJ Tucker followed up with makes of their own.

Going into the first timeout of the second half, the Sixers had a significant 77-53 lead over Cleveland. Coming out of the timeout, the Cavaliers picked up some steam. On their first offensive possession back on the floor, Cleveland got a bucket off of an offensive rebound. 

After the Sixers had a shot clock violation, the Cavaliers capitalized once again on the offensive end with a Jarrett Allen dunk. Another Sixers turnover helped the Cavs get off to a quick 6-0 run, forcing Philadelphia into another timeout. The Sixers came out of the timeout with a missed shot and a turnover, which led to an eighth-straight point for Cleveland. 

The Cavaliers would go on a 10-0 run before Melton broke the drought with a corner three assisted by Embiid. It wasn’t the prettiest performance for the Sixers in the third quarter, but they ended it on a high note. After giving up seven points to the Cavs in the final two minutes, Tyrese Maxey brought some energy back to South Philly with a stepback three. Philadelphia closed out the quarter with a 17-point lead.

4th Quarter

Similar to the start of the second quarter, the Sixers rolled out an all-bench lineup once again. Shake Milton, Tyrese Maxey, Jalen McDaniels, Georges Niang, and Paul Reed were the five from the unit getting the early fourth-quarter minutes. 

Clearly, Cleveland felt the urgency in the matchup. In the opening minutes, the Cavaliers got off to an 8-5 run, with Maxey being the only Sixer to produce points for the team at the start of the final quarter. Although the Sixers were out in front with a double-digit lead for the majority of the matchup, it wouldn’t be a night where the Sixers felt comfortable clearing the bench.

With a little under ten minutes left to go in the fourth quarter, the Sixers rolled out James Harden. One minute later, Melton and Harris followed. As the Cavaliers continued teasing a potential comeback attempt as they were hitting on over 60 percent of their shots with eight minutes left to go, Joel Embiid was the next starter to check back in.

Eventually, the Cavaliers cut the Sixers’ once 28-point lead down to ten with seven minutes left to go. Joel Embiid’s offensive dominance allowed the Sixers to prevent a mid-quarter breakdown, but the Cavaliers continued finding success on the offensive end of the floor. Shooting nearly 70 percent from the field, the Cavs had the score within an eight-point reach with three minutes left to go.

A Donovan Mitchell three, followed by a Jarrett Allen bucket, helped get the Cavs within four with under two minutes left to go. On the next offensive possession from the Sixers, Harden was fouled with 40 seconds left to go. Two successful free throws gave Philadelphia a six-point cushion. 

Cleveland managed to answer with a pair of free throws, but they had to start fouling intentionally with 27 seconds left to go. The Cavaliers nearly completed a major comeback on Wednesday, but the Sixers avoided it and put Cleveland away with a 118-112 win.