The Sixer Sense
Fansided

Cavs Use Second Half Surge to Blow by Sixers

By Eric Mullin

facebooktwitterreddit

This Philadelphia 76ers game seemed like it was over earlier this afternoon when Cleveland Cavaliers head coach David Blatt announced that he would be resting none of his players tonight, meaning LeBron James and Kevin Love were going to play. So even before the tip this seemed like a too big of a task for a young and inexperienced Sixers team that is still searching for its identity on offense. Although the Sixers led by as many as 15 points in the first half, they could not sustain their offensive stability nor contain LeBron James long enough as they fell to the Cavs for their third consecutive loss to start the season.

The Sixers came out with a lot of energy in the first half and put together their best stretch of basketball this season. The Sixers led 32-18 after the first quarter by pushing the ball and swarming on the defensive end. In the second quarter the Sixers couldn’t get out in transition as much so they fed the ball in the post to Okafor, which helped the flow of their offense a lot as they headed into the locker room with a five-point lead. The Cavs closed the first half on a run and continued that run into the beginning of the third quarter. The Sixers, led by Jahlil Okafor, did a good job of not letting the Cavs close the game out early, but the Cavs won the quarter by 15 points.

With about five minutes left in the fourth quarter and the deficit facing the Sixers being around the 20-point mark, Brett Brown waved the white flag and took out his starters. With the backups battling for the final few minutes of the game, the Sixers were able to cut the lead to four with under a minute left but the Cavs were able to avoid complete destruction and closed out the game with a final score of 107-100.

More from The Sixer Sense

Players of the Game

Jahlil Okafor — 26 minutes, 24 points, 11/21 FG, 2/3 FT

Let’s start with the good from Okafor tonight: everything on the offensive end of the court. Okafor played like a ‘bull’ in the post tonight. He was aggressively backing down whoever the Cavs put on him whether it was Tristan Thompson, Kevin Love, or Timofey Mozgov (who really struggled with containing Jah). When Okafor had a clean catch in the post tonight he made fluid moves to the hoop. He also added in a jumper from the free-throw area and a nice left-handed, and-one drive to the hoop (see video below). On the offensive end this was probably Jah’s best showing of the season thus far. Okafor also committed just one turnover, which is a huge improvement from him over the first two games.

The problem with Okafor’s game tonight was that it wasn’t complete. If you notice in the stat line above, the only things I have listed are his shooting statistics. That is because Okafor only had three rebounds (along with just ONE defensive rebound), zero blocks, and zero steals in 26 minutes of action. Through his first three games Jah is averaging just 5.3 rebounds per game in over 33 minutes of action. The Sixers are going to need a lot more from him in that area, as they currently sit 26th in the NBA in rebounding. From what I have seen so far, it’s not so much his limited hops that are hurting his rebounding but rather he’s simply just not consistently boxing out. Very encouraged by the offense through three games, but rebounding is something to watch with Okafor as the season wears on.

Nik Stauskas — 28 minutes, 15 points, 4 rebounds, 4/10 FG, 3/9 3PFG, 4/4 FT

TJ McConnell — 23 minutes, 6 points, 7 rebounds, 12 assists, 3/4 FG

The second player of the game award is going to be shared by the Sixers top two-guards from tonight. The first is Stauskas who followed up a solid opening with another game filled with flashes of potential. Stauskas impressed again with his ball handling and play-making ability off pick and rolls. He only finished with one assist, but Stauskas had a couple of nice takes and made good passes when he was involved in the PnR. The few opportunities that Stauskas had good looks from deep he connected (I counted 2/3 from deep on wide-open looks). The rest of his three-point shots were from way too deep usually as a result of the shot-clock running down or the Sixers offense being otherwise stagnant. Overall, positive sign that Stauskas built on his debut performance.

The TJ McConnell that we saw in the preseason was the TJ McConnell that showed up tonight. McConnell was pushing the ball, penetrating into the lane, and running the offense efficiently. When he was on the court the Sixers seemed to get into their sets more smoothly and there was more movement overall. In the first two games McConnell seemed overmatched and was putting up ill-advised shots. The way he played tonight was why the Sixers gave him a shot to show what he can do until Kendall Marshall and Tony Wroten return. If McConnell continues to play like this then it would be hard for Brett Brown to not give him more minutes with the starters.

Tweet of the Game

LeBron James, mustached and all, was very good tonight. He finished a rebound shy of a triple-double by putting up 22 points, 11 assists, and 9 rebounds. He also became the youngest player to reach 25,000 points when he finished off a high-difficulty alley-oop. In the next time out the Sixers acknowledged the historical mark on the jumbo-tron and Sixers fans honored him with a standing ovation. Great job Sixers fans. Here’s my LeBron take: he’s the best basketball player of this generation, instead of hating on him for no reason let’s watch someone who could turn out to be the best basketball player of all-time finish out his career.

Next: Is Hinkie Hurting Sixers' Chances At Big Deal?

Play of the Game

Jahlil Okafor gets the ball at the three-point line, goes right at Timofey Mozgov, and finishes with his…LEFT hand.