PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers had plenty of chances down the stretch both in regulation and in overtime in a 122-119 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers at home on Tuesday.
Philadelphia’s offense generated numerous good looks in the fourth quarter, but shots wouldn’t drop. The Sixers shot 42.9% from the floor in the fourth and 1-for-7 from deep.
Coach Nick Nurse drew up a play for Joel Embiid with the game tied at 110 late in regulation. The big fella pulled up for a mid-range jumper over Cavaliers big man Tristan Thompson that just rolled off, forcing overtime.
“I wanted him to have the ball and, obviously, take the shot if it was one-on-one and if it wasn’t, we had some movement,” Nurse explained. “We had some cutters. We told them to keep their eyes up in case the double team came and he would make the right play and it was a one-on-one play and a pretty good shot.”
They shot 4-for-11 from the floor and 1-for-5 from deep in overtime. With Philadelphia trailing Cleveland, 120-119, Embiid had the ball at the top of the key and handed it off to Tyrese Maxey who had a head full of steam going toward the rim. He missed the layup while Embiid’s tip just rolled off the rim. It resulted in the Cavs then clinching the game at the line.
“We actually killed it for the most part pretty well,” said Maxey. “I think down one, we got some great looks. Coach Nurse drew up a star play, I missed a wide-open layup. We got the ball in big fella’s hands to end the game. He missed a shot that he normally makes. I think we did a pretty good job executing down the stretch.”
The Sixers earned the shots they wanted for the most part — looks from Embiid, Maxey, Tobias Harris and others, but they weren’t able to execute.
“We got to where we want to get to,” Maxey added. “Made shots. Scored the ball. I think we didn’t come up with a lot of loose balls today. Our bigs was fighting down there, to box out (Jarrett) Allen and (Evan) Mobley. Us as guards, myself, (De’Anthony) Melt, we should’ve dug up a little bit more of those loose balls, but we weren’t able to.”
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