The Philadelphia 76ers have bounced back from an ugly two-win loss to the Detroit Pistons. Joel Embiid sensationalized with 44 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks as he led the Sixers to a 112-108 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. With the win, Philadelphia secured a spot in the playoffs.
Despite a terrible start, Philly was able to bounce back and beat a young Cavs roster. Embiid was held to just four points in the first quarter, but he came alive in the second and led the team to their fourth straight win over Cleveland, ending the season.
Despite struggling with his shot, James Harden had a nice outing for the Sixers. He recorded his second triple-double since joining the team with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
first quarter
- Both teams were back-to-back on the second night, and it showed early. The Sixers and Cavs started the game with a combined 2-of-13.
- Cleveland took advantage of a cold start for Philly. The Sixers missed seven consecutive field goal attempts and went scoreless for 4:15, giving the Cavs a 10-0 run.
- Embiid couldn’t bring his shot down early. He went 1-for-6 in the first eight minutes of the game. But Embiid was a force on the defensive with a few big blocks.
- Philly didn’t get much of James Harden in the first either. He didn’t score his first points of the game until 2:50 in the quarter.
- DeAndre Jordan came in and this is what happened:
- Philly is lucky to have lost only two after the first quarter. The Sixers shot just 27.8 percent and were 23:21 behind.
second quarter
- The non-Embiid minutes continue to be an issue for the Sixers. Cleveland went on a 14-2 run with the big man on the bench, moving up eight in under three minutes in the second.
- The Sixers keep shooting themselves in the foot. They had eight turnovers in the first 16 minutes of the game, resulting in some easy buckets in transition for the Cavs.
- Embiid returns and good things start happening right away. The opposite of what was when DJ is on stage. For some reason, Doc Rivers still thinks Jordan is a better option than B-ball Paul or Charles Bassey, who’ve been killing it in the G League lately.
-11 in 6 minutes for DeAndre Jordan. So that’s something to look forward to in the playoffs when the competition gets even tougher.
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) April 3, 2022
- Tyrese Maxey didn’t play at all in the second. Doc decided to bench the second year because he had three fouls.
- Embiid and Harden get rolling to wrap up the quarter, which brought the Sixers back into single digits. Harden made a nice hustle play and hit his first bucket of the game.
- A good end to an otherwise poor first half for Philly. Embiid and Harden combined for 27 points and 13 rebounds. Although the Sixers only scored 31.6 percent, they are 55-49 behind at the break.
Third quarter
- Embiid is boiling after its slow start. With ten minutes to go he is in third place with 23 points.
- Embiid’s improvement in the line-up of his teammates has been evident throughout the season. After finding Matisse Thybulle for an easy lay-in, he connected with Harden for a three-pointer with this tasty dish.
- Maxey is back in the game with an immediate impact. He has five points and three assists in the first six minutes of the third, giving the Sixers their first lead since the first quarter.
- Embiid is so clutch with winding up the shot clock. He hit a pair of threes right on the buzzer in this quarter. As is the case with many nights, Philly would be blown away without Embiid on this one.
- The Cavs’ backcourt makes for a lot of good looks. Darius Garland and regular Sixers hitter Caris LeVert roll for Cleveland.
- The two teams go back and forth in this game. There were five lead changes in the last five minutes of the third game and the Sixers are 81-80 ahead of the fourth.
fourth quarter
- Embiid is on the bench early in the quarter and the Sixers are holding up surprisingly well. Something we haven’t said often when Jordan is in the game. Philly didn’t give up a big run against Cleveland and it’s 87-87 and Joel will be ready to check in again.
- The Sixers have been slow on their closeouts, but they’re lucky the Cavs missed a lot of open looks from the three-point line.
- Embiid just scored his 40th point of the night in a textbook pick and roll with Harden. Philly is 98-97 with just over four minutes left.
- Harden came up with a big bucket to put the Sixers up at three with just over a minute on the clock.
- After Tobias Harris missed, the Cavs had an opportunity to take the lead with 34 seconds remaining. But Embiid and Thybulle forced Garland into a difficult shot, giving the Sixers possession by one with 12.5 seconds left.
- Harden is fouled and calmly hits both free throws to bring Philly back by three.
- Thybulle comes in with a clutch steal on Cleveland’s inbound play and sets Harris up for the game-sealing dunk.
What that means in the overall rating: The Sixers improved to 48-30 and sit third in the Eastern Conference with the Milwaukee Bucks. Both teams move back to second place in the Boston Celtics’ winning column.
Next: Philly is on course to take on a poor Indiana Pacers team on Tuesday.