The Sixer Sense
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GRADES: Cleveland Cavaliers 118, Philadelphia 76ers 94

By Sam Coltrane

Tobias Harris | Philadelphia 76ers Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Tobias Harris | Philadelphia 76ers Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Philadelphia 76ers dropped a tough one on the road.

The Philadelphia 76ers fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers on the second night of a back-to-back on the road.

Joel Embiid missed the game due to back tightness.

All of these things aren’t excuses, they are facts. It was not a good night to be a Philadelphia fan.

Last year, Philadelphia had a horrendous road record of 12-26. So far this year, they waited to pull away from the New York Knicks and tonight get blown away by Cleveland.

The teams traded baskets back and forth until a Ben Simmons and-one gave Philadelphia a 51-12 lead. From there, it was meticulous domination by Cleveland. They would close the quarter on a 17-9 run to lead 29-24.

The second quarter saw a slow start turn into a 15-4 run by Cleveland in route to a 35-point quarter which gave them a 64-50 lead heading into the half.

The third quarter was more of the same, but with lesser known names. Cleveland won the quarter by seven points as Philadelphia began to dip deep into their bench.

The game resembled a glorified walk-through by the end with Cleveland enjoying a free flowing offense and Philadelphia played the end of the bench. One thing stayed the same, Cleveland outscored Philadelphia in the quarter.

Tough to win the game when the opponent wins all four quarters.

Philadelphia 76ers. TOBIAS HARRIS. C+. <strong>28 mins | 16 pts | 9 reb | 5 ast | 3 stl | 0 blk | 3 TO | 5-10 FG | 4-6 3PT| 2-2 FT | 1 PF | -16 |</strong><p>I can’t stress enough that there were no bright spots tonight. That said, Harris was the best of the muck. He shot well from distance, was at least active on defense, and ended up with an above-average looking box score. That’s about all that went well, besides one homage to Mike Scott who shot well in mostly garbage time minutes.</p>. C+

<strong>28 mins | 15 pts | 6 reb | 4 ast | 2 stl | 2 blk | 6 TO | 5-8 FG | 0-0 3PT| 5-7 FT | 15 PF | -21 |</strong><p>Simmons was severely disappointing. He tried to push the pace in the first-quarter, but he simply hasn’t seemed to progress on his half-court offense. No matter one’s opinion, with Simmons struggling without Embiid, the clamor outside the team will only get louder as James Harden does his work on the court.</p>. PG. Philadelphia 76ers. BEN SIMMONS. D-

D. <strong>15 mins | 9 pts | 3 reb | 0 ast | 0 stl | 0 blk | 3 TO | 4-4 FG | 0-0 3PT| 1-2 FT | 4 PF | -9 |</strong><p>Howard had an opportunity to get increased minutes and a start without Embiid in the game. He mostly showed why he is in a bench role. Howard immediately got into foul trouble with four fouls in only 15 minutes of action. He played fine, but there is no doubt tonight showed Embiid’s impact and that certainly wasn’t what Howard would have hoped coming in.</p>. C. Philadelphia 76ers. DWIGHT HOWARD

INC.. <strong>8 mins | 0 pts | 1 reb | 0 ast | 0 stl | 0 blk | 0 TO | 0-1 FG | 0-1 3PT| 0-0 FT | 1 PF | -4 |</strong><p>Someone needs to get an understanding on why Thybulle isn’t seeing the court. He just simply is not playing. He has found himself outside of even the bench rotation with Embiid missing. There is little doubt he is more popular than productive, but the complete drop-off is surprising.</p>. SG. Philadelphia 76ers. MATISSE THYBULLE

<strong>18 mins | 4 pts | 3 reb | 1 ast | 0 stl | 1 blk | 1 TO | 1-2 FG | 0-13PT| 2-2 FT | 1 PF | -4 |</strong><p>This spot could have been filled by Green or Seth Curry. The lack of playmaking ability is particularly noticeable when both of Philadelphia’s stars don’t share the floor. Among rotation players, Green had the best team +/-… at -4.</p>. SF. Philadelphia 76ers. DANNY GREEN. D+

After 40 games, this could be chalked up to a bad night. This early, this bad — it feels like Philadelphia needs to start experimenting with the lineup and Doc Rivers needs to push Simmons for more, one way or the other.

Next. Top 30 scorers in Sixers history. dark

Philadelphia will aim to get back on track as they take on the Toronto Raptors back at home in the Wells Fargo Center at 7 PM E.T. on Tuesday.