GRADES: Cleveland Cavaliers 108, Philadelphia 76ers 94
By Sam Coltrane
The Philadelphia 76ers’ road woes turn into injury woes as Joel Embiid exits early with a reported shoulder sprain.
A road loss to one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference is always a call for concern. The level of play from the Philadelphia 76ers of late is alarming, and potentially an indication of the team’s near future.
Late in the first quarter, Joel Embiid bumped into Ante Zizic, which reportedly resulted in a shoulder sprain. A trip to the locker room, a return to the bench, and then finally a retreat back to the locker room spelled the end of the night for the star center.
The team’s road woes have been well articulated as their home/road splits are approaching historic levels. As unexplainable as it is, the blame has to eventually fall on Brett Brown. This is a game recap, but the game simply can’t be assessed properly without discussing the lack of innovation in play calling and the repeated lack of fire the team displays when on the road.
Fair or foul, a lot of that has to fall on Brown.
As for the game, Philadelphia trailed Cleveland 28-17 at the conclusion of the first quarter. The team failed to narrow the gap during the second quarter and entered the locker room down 55-44.
The second half provided little to report on as well. A Kevin Love three-pointer pushed the Cleveland lead to as many as 20 points before an 11-0 run by Philadelphia trimmed the lead to only nine, 70-61. Philadelphia entered the fourth trailing 77-68.
Philadelphia had a chance when they trimmed the lead to only five, 85-80, on an Al Horford three-pointer, but a 6-0 Cleveland run quickly stymied any momentum. The rest of the game proceeded to be a race to the buzzer.
Philadelphia 76ers. SHAKE MILTON. B. <strong>37 mins | 20 pts | 4 reb | 4 ast | 0 stl | 1 blk | 0 TO | 8-14 FG | 4-6 3PT| 0-0 FT | 3 PF | -5 |</strong><p>In what was a game that every Philadelphia fan will either want to forget or use as artillery to clamor for change, Milton served as one of the only semi-bright spots on the floor. Milton continued to show he can spread the floor while orchestrating the offense and rebounding well for his position. Almost nothing went well for Philadelphia, other than realizing they may have found a player who can provide functional minutes at the guard position.</p>. PG
B-. <strong>24 mins | 14 pts | 1 reb | 2 ast | 1 stl | 0 blk | 1 TO | 4-12 FG | 4-11 3PT| 2-3 FT | 2 PF | +1 |</strong><p>Korkmaz didn’t do anything particularly special and could have easily been lumped in with the dumpster fire that was the roster tonight. However, Korkmaz did something that is quite valuable for Philadelphia… he shot and shot a lot. This team needs spacing in the worst of ways and even if he isn’t lighting the nets on fire, Korkmaz’s willingness to shoot is worthy of note.</p>. SG. Philadelphia 76ers. FURKAN KORKMAZ
SG. Philadelphia 76ers. ALEC BURKS. D+. <strong>17 mins | 13 pts | 2 reb | 2 ast | 2 stl | 0 blk | 1 TO | 6-12 FG | 1-4 3PT| 0-0 FT | 1 PF | -8 |</strong><p>Burks didn’t have his best game, but he also didn’t have his worst. Again, this game was such an F performance from the team that picking players not to give a failing grade to is hard. That said, Burks did contribute 13 points off the bench and if he can maintain that when the team is healthy, then that will be a valuable contribution.</p>
KYLE O'QUINN. D+. <strong>11 mins | 6 pts | 2 reb | 1 ast | 0 stl | 4 blk | 0 TO | 2-5 FG | 0-1 3PT| 2-2 FT | 0 PF | +4 |</strong><p>O’Quinn was a signing in the offseason that made some sense. He would serve as a backup while functionally being able to space the floor. His playing time has been sparse and his production has lacked, but tonight he contributed four blocks along with a team high +/-. His contribution meant very little, but should at least be recognized as being above what many others put on the floor.</p>. C. Philadelphia 76ers
HORFORD / HARRIS / RICHARDSON / BROWN. F. This isn’t conventional for the player grades section. This game can’t be conventional for Philadelphia.<p><strong>32 mins | 9 pts | 8 reb | 4 ast | 2 stl | 2 blk | 1 TO | 4-12 FG | 1-5 3PT| 0-1 FT | 0 PF | -13 |</strong></p><p><a rel=. PF / SF / SG / HC. Philadelphia 76ers
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The Sixers’ next game is tomorrow night, Feb. 27 at home against the New York Knicks.