Observations after Sixers suffer blowout loss to Cavs, fall in NBA Cup

Observations after Sixers suffer blowout loss to Cavs, fall in NBA Cup originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers couldn’t rekindle the magic of their comeback home-opening win over the Cavaliers.

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They fell Friday night in NBA Cup action, suffering a 119-95 defeat in Cleveland. The Sixers dipped to 8-2 and the Cavs improved to 5-4.

The Sixers’ top scorers were Jaylen Brown (20 points), VJ Edgecombe (19 points) and Tyrese Maxey (17).

The Cavs got 23 points from Donovan Mitchell and 22 from Evan Mobley.

The Sixers’ injured players included center Adem Bona (cervical spine sprain). Cleveland was down big man Jarrett Allen (right knee contusion). Sam Merrill sat out the second half with a right elbow injury.

With Friday’s loss, the Sixers are 1-1 in Eastern Conference Group B of the NBA Cup. Their next Cup game is scheduled for Nov. 25 against the Heat.

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The Sixers will conclude their three-road trip Sunday afternoon against the Bulls. Here are observations on their blowout loss to Cleveland:

Nightmare start for Embiid, Sixers

After a missed Merrill three-pointer, the Sixers steamed ahead on the fast break and Edgecombe opened the scoring with a slam.

The Cavs replied with a 15-0 run kickstarted by six straight Mitchell points. Much like in the Sixers’ Oct. 22 win over Cleveland, they were many levels below their best in the first quarter.

The Sixers began 0 for 4 from three-point range, including two LeBron James misses. The Cavs were also the better team in transition and limited the Sixers’ chances to attack in the open floor by taking excellent care of the ball in the early going. Edgecombe was called for his second foul with 7:34 left in the first quarter.

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Meanwhile, Joel Embiid expressed his frustration about a couple of early no-calls. Embiid’s larger problem was that he couldn’t hit any sort of shot besides free throws.

He went 0 for 9 from the floor in the game. The seven-time All-Star finished with six points and seven rebounds.

Embiid has had a subpar shooting start to the year, especially from three-point territory — he’s now 3 for 28 (10.7 percent) — but…

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Publish date : 2026-11-07 07:00:00

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