Instant Observations: 76ers Suffer Blowout Loss to NBA-Best Cavaliers

The Philadelphia 76ers were blown off the floor on Saturday night, falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers 126-99.

Tyrese Maxey finished with 27 points and three assists. Joel Embiid (rest) and Jared McCain (left knee meniscus surgery) were out of the lineup for the Sixers.

Darius Garland led the Cavaliers with 26 points, five rebounds and four assists. Donovan Mitchell totaled 19 points, four rebounds and five assists. Evan Mobley finished with 22 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block. Cleveland shot 53.3% from the field and 51.2% from 3-point range. The Cavaliers played without Max Strus (right ankle injury management) and Isaac Okoro (right shoulder AC joint sprain).

The Sixers next take on the San Antonio Spurs on Monday evening. Here are some instant observations from the blowout loss to Cleveland:

Likes:

– Maxey, for the second consecutive game, opened up the action as if he was shot out of a cannon. He scored the Sixers’ first eight points, including knocking down a pair of pull-up 3-pointers.

After beginning the season with a prolonged cold shooting spell, Maxey has seemingly regained his touch from beyond the arc. Going into this matchup, Maxey shot 46.4% from 3-point range on 9.3 attempts per game over his last three contests. He had the hot hand from beyond the arc for much of the night. A large portion of his points came on makes from long distance. If he can continue his hot outside shooting of late, it will help open up the rest of his offensive skillset. While the 24-year old shot well from beyond the arc against the Cavaliers, he struggled to get much going inside the arc. However, his continued success from beyond the arc is the bigger picture takeaway from what was otherwise a brutal game to watch.

– KJ Martin was rewarded for his strong play of late by received the starting nod over Guerschon Yabusele. Martin quietly filled up the stat sheet, totaling seven points and seven rebounds.

– Ricky Council IV has developed into a valuable bench player for the Sixers. He plays with a ton of energy and is always flying all over the court. He shot the ball inefficiently against Cleveland, but still produced through getting to the free-throw line. Council IV finished with 11 points, five rebounds and one steal in 21 minutes.

Dislikes:

– The Sixers shot the ball well as a team in the first half, but unfortunately it was wasted because of a combination of turnovers and poor transition defense. Philadelphia committed 10 first-half turnovers, with many of them being due to a lack of focus and some flat out poor decision making. Despite the efficient scoring, the Sixers’ offense stagnated at times largely due to turnovers and a lack of effective perimeter shot creation. Once the Cavaliers keyed in on slowing Maxey down, the Sixers struggled to find an answer on the perimeter.

Paul George has gotten away with some lackluster offensive production this season because of his defense and strong playmaking. However, the Sixers need George to produce more as a scorer, particularly in games Embiid is out of the lineup. He was either unable or unwilling to push the issue and drive to the basket, instead settling for contested jumpers and playing in isolation. George has yet to find his footing as a scorer in Philadelphia. His ceiling is obvious and has showed itself on multiple occasions this season. However, more often than not George has failed to score at the level expected of him when he signed a mammoth contract with the Sixers this past offseason. The Sixers are going to struggle to win many games receiving the type of offensive production George has put out for much of this season.

– The other area the Sixers struggled with on Saturday night was their lack of focus defensively. The Cavaliers completely had their way against Philadelphia’s defense. In the first half, they played with pace and dominated on the fast break. The Sixers were consistently beat back down the floor, leading to a plethora of easy looks for Cleveland. When they were not giving up fast-break points, the Sixers appeared fine giving up one open 3-pointer after another. Garland and Mitchell combined to shoot 10 of 17 from beyond the arc, but they were not alone. Georges Niang and Caris LeVert were just two of the six players who finished with two-plus made 3-pointers.

The Sixers, powered by a big Maxey performance, were able to keep the game close for nearly the entirety of the first half. However, the offense stagnating around Maxey and Cleveland’s red hot outside shooting blew the game wide open. Once Cleveland pulled away, the Sixers stood no chance to get back in it.