Streak Snapped, Cavaliers' Furious Rally Falls Short

Five thoughts on the Cavaliers 118-112 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers

We knew it would eventually come to an end.

But we probably didn’t envision the rollercoaster the Cleveland Cavaliers would go on as they woke up in the second half after flatlining in the first on their way to a 118-112 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night.

The Cavs dug themselves a hole early that was ultimately too deep to climb out of. Cleveland never led and trailed by as many as 28 at one point. The 76ers used a 21-2 run by the 76ers in the first eight minutes to build a lead.

Cleveland trailed by 14 after one quarter and 25 at the half, but slowly chipped away and made a furious rally in the fourth quarter to make it a two-possession game.

Darius Garland scored 27 points while Donovan Mitchell did most of his damage in the second half, scoring 25 of his 33 points to make things interesting late.

Evan Mobley found a different gear in the second half, too. Mobley scored just two points in the first 24 minutes but poured in 21 points in the second half as the Cavs roared back.

Ultimately, they couldn’t overcome a poor shooting performance and the 76ers hot shooters to come all the way back.

The Cavs laid one on the 76ers back in November, handing them a 113-85 loss. Philadelphia returned the favor Wednesday night.

The two teams will meet for a third and final time in Cleveland in one month.

Five thoughts from the Cavaliers 118-112 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers

• Philadelphia came out of the gate hot.

The 76ers opened a 21-point lead in the first quarter in impressive fashion. We’ve praised the Cavaliers perimeter defense, frequently holding opponents below 30% from deep during this current winning streak. On Wednesday night, the 76ers started a perfect six-for-six from three-point range.

Many of them were open looks.

The Cavs scored just 14 points in the second quarter and found themselves trailing by 25 at the break.

• The Cavs’ looked like a team desperately in need of the All-Star break.

Cleveland just wrapped up a stretch of seven games in 11 days and they played every bit the part. Between the poor shooting, ineffective defense, and sloppy turnovers it looked like they had nothing left in the tank.

Two nights earlier, both J.B. Bickerstaff and the players felt lucky to escape with a win against the San Antonio Spurs, one of the NBA’s worst teams this year. Their effort wasn’t up to their standard and it didn’t get ANY better on Wednesday night.

The Cavs were completely out of sorts until Mitchell and Mobley started contributing in the second half. They won’t play again for eight days and boy do they sure look like they could use a break right now.

• Danny Green made his Cavalier debut.

The Cavs’ made Danny Green’s signing official yesterday and announced it this morning.

J.B. Bickerstaff said Danny Green was available tonight in Philadelphia, but he didn’t know how much he was going to use him. With the Cavs down by 20 for much of the second half, Bickerstaff must have figured “why not?”

He canned a triple as time wound down in the second quarter and finished his night with three points in 11 minutes.

The Cavs acquired Green in part because of his ability to shoot, so it was good to see him knock down his first look. After shooting just 4-of-17 from long range in the first half, the Wine and Gold will welcome his sharpshooting ability to the lineup.

• Where’s the bench?

Speaking of Green, he scored a quarter of the Cavs bench points. The 76ers outscored the Cavs 30-12 in bench points and Green accounted for three of them.

Caris LeVert led the way for the reserves with five points. Dean Wade was scoreless in eight minutes. Lamar Stevens had two pints in just four minutes of action.

Ricky Rubio and Caris LeVert were out with an illness and neck spasms, and Kevin Love is still being held out of the rotation. The Cavs got next to nothing from the guys coming in to spell the starters.

• Was Darius Garland’s foul on De’Anthony Melton really flagrant?

Garland fouled Melton with 3:45 to play in the second quarter on a three-pointer from the wing on the right side. The play was reviewed and ultimately the foul was upgraded, and Garland was tagged for a flagrant closeout.

Looking at multiple replays, Garland did everything he could to avoid any reckless contact with Melton as he landed, which is what the officials are typically looking for. Moreso, Garland even turned his back towards Melton after the shot appearing to get out of the way.

Melton got three free-throws and the 76ers kept the ball.

It was emblematic of just how rotten a night it was for the Cavs. Nothing went their way.

Garland was issued a technical foul a couple of nights ago for barking at an official after he didn’t get a call. His frustration boiling over, and perhaps rightfully so as he’s taken a beating this year.

Garland has been on the wrong end of a lot of questionable calls this year. And remember, this was the guy who missed five games after suffering a lacerated eyelid in the season opener in Toronto. 

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