Recap: Sixers 118, Cavs 109 (or, Seven Fouls or Less)

For a moment, just obliterate all the specific aspects of the Philadelphia 76ers, that particularly annoying franchise. Forget about their arm-entangling shooting guard, the hulking agility of their MVP candidate, the coach’s voice like a rusty car door opening up into an abyss. Forget their hypnosis of NBA officials, the profanity of it, the profanity of Embiid’s fouling out and then not fouling out. Slot the 76ers into their generic role rather than raging at their whole schtick, and this game becomes meaningful rather than simply aggravating. The 76ers are the third seed in the NBA Eastern Conference, one of the top five teams in the league, and the Cavs would have taken massive encouragement from a win against an elite team of this caliber. To belong, you have not just to compete with the best, but to beat them.

Excuses, excuses: J.B. Bickerstaff and the Cavs organization did not engage in any, to their credit, in the aftermath of the game. Cleveland had a good shot at pulling out a win with the personnel available, but could not prevail. Center Jarrett Allen was out with an eye injury, opening up nine minutes of action for Mamadi Diakite. Ricky Rubio was dressed but not actually available, on the second night of a back-to-back. Dean Wade, once the toast of the Lowe Post podcast, has had his role on the Cavs dwindle to Windlerian proportions, and didn’t see the floor.

Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and James Harden pushed the Cavaliers back in the standings by another game, thanks to a combined 87 points from the Sixers top trio (on 28 field goals, 10-21 from three, and a staggering 23-26 from the free throw line). The Cavs starting backcourt could not quite achieve offensive lift-off in this game, with Garland (15 points) and Mitchell (21 points) each going 1-7 from three-point range, and getting to the line for only a combined five shots. Garland was unable to score in the fourth, taking just two shots.

Caris LeVert got extended run in this game, filling up the stat sheet with an efficient 24 points (5-10 from beyond the arc), 3 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal. Sure, he failed to box out a couple of times, and made more threes than twos, but that’s the NBA today, and he was an exciting and dynamic player that kept the Cavs in this game for stretches.

In some ways the central story of the game was Evan Mobley, playing an outstanding game at center against an MVP-level counterpart. Apart from missing a handful of free throws (he went 3-7 from the stripe), Mobley not only held his own against Joel Embiid, in a game where the officials were prone to calling everything, he committed only two personal fouls. Playing essentially every minute that Embiid was on the court, the Cavs second year star hauled in a dozen boards, and was a controlled and cerebral force on both ends of the floor. File this game away with his performance in another close but losing effort to Denver.

Unfortunately it wasn’t enough: The Cavs were outrebounded 46-33 by Philadelphia, with P.J. Tucker providing some rugged and essential work on the glass in the fourth quarter to seal the game.

In the ongoing process of tinkering with rotations as the playoffs approach, J.B. rode Cedi and Caris for the duration of the fourth quarter rather than Okoro and Stevens. Isaac went 2-3 from distance in this game but had a stretch of errors in the second quarter that set the Cavs back. Lamar Stevens (also 2-3 from distance) started but played just 12 minutes in the contest, leaving little imprint. Raul Neto put in some typically fiesty and competent work at the backup point position.

The Cavs might not play the Sixers again until next season, but you never know. This is starting to feel like a rivalry, and Evan Mobley will certainly be ready for the task.