The Philadelphia 76ers had a rough night on Sunday; they were blown out by the Cleveland Cavaliers 118-94 in a game that wasn’t even that close. It did not help that star big man Joel Embiid was a late scratch with back tightness, but that should not have caused the team to lose as it did.
One thing that should not have been affected by Embiid’s absence was the players’ effort level, especially on defense. The team should expect a dropoff on that end while missing an elite defender like Embiid, but to allow Cleveland to shoot 52.7% from the floor and for the Cavaliers to score 35 points off turnovers is unacceptable.
“There were so many stretches where we weren’t locked in, offensively and defensively, but it started on the defensive end,” said Ben Simmons. “We didn’t really change too much up for them to give them different looks. Too many easy buckets. We weren’t physical enough and that’s how they played. They hit us first.”
The Cavs certainly hit first. Without Embiid in the middle, Cleveland big man Andre Drummond feasted on the offensive glass. When Philadelphia stopped that, it opened lanes for Collin Sexton and Darius Garland to get to the basket. Dwight Howard is not the elite shot-blocker he once was, and that made it easy for the Cavs all night long.
There were many issues for Philadelphia on Sunday, but the one that stood out the most was a lack of physicality. The Sixers have a lot of length and they have a lot of guys they can turn to for defensive help, but, on this night, they did not have much interest.
“They just had too many easy looks,” Simmons added. “A lot of their pick-and-rolls, they were getting into the paint. Easy floaters, layups, it was kind of like a workout drill for them. We’re gonna go back and watch film, get better, and see where we went wrong throughout the game.”
The Sixers are a much better defensive team than they showed in this game, but they have to put on a better effort going forward. They take on the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday back at home and that will be their next opportunity to put this game behind them.
https://embed.sendtonews.com/oembed/?SC=1KUpeZ5KCt-1086904-7498&autoplay=on&V=2&format=json
[lawrence-related id=40671,40666,40662]