Final score: Cavaliers fail to complete sweep, fall to 76ers 114–94
They (almost) had them in the first half, though, not gonna lie.
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ cavalry arrived tonight as Kevin Love and Matthew Dellavedova both made their long-awaited returns to the lineup. But the reinforcements weren’t enough to withstand a long-range barrage, as the Philadelphia 76ers bombed their way to a 114–94 victory.
The two vets’ impact was obvious from the tip. Love in particular provided a jolt, canning his first three shots on his way to 13 first-quarter points. And the Cavs must have mainlined Love’s high-post playmaking, as their typically moribund offense recorded an assist on all but one of its 20 first-half field goals. But even so, Seth Curry and Shake Milton shot the Sixers to a two-point lead at the break.
But the juice dried up somewhere along the way, and the offense resumed its regularly scheduled moribundity. And by ‘somewhere along the way,’ I mean ‘at halftime’— after scoring 56 points in the first half, the Cavs only mustered up 17 in the third quarter, and that allowed the Sixers to turn a two-point halftime lead into a half quarter of garbage time.
To be frank, this was a strange game, in which many strange things occurred. Shake Milton almost outscored the Cavs’ starting backcourt by himself ? Ben Simmons scored 5 points on 2-for-11 shooting? Darius Garland finished with six points but 8 assists? Here’s one thing that’s not strange, though: in a 20-point loss, the Cavaliers were outscored by a combined 21 points from the foul line and three-point line. It’s hard to win when you lose the efficiency battle like that.
Up next: The Cavs take their talents to South Beach and play the Miami Heat on Saturday. Tipoff is at 8 p.m.