The Sixers couldn’t summon the same spark that carried them past Cleveland in their home opener, and Friday night’s NBA Cup rematch turned into a rough one fast.
Philadelphia was beaten 119-95 in Cleveland, dropping to 8-2 while the Cavaliers moved to 5-4. The Sixers are now 1-1 in Eastern Conference Group B, with their next Cup game set for Nov. 25 against the Heat. They’ll finish their three-game road trip Sunday afternoon against the Bulls.
Jaylen Brown led the Sixers with 20 points, followed by VJ Edgecombe with 19 and Tyrese Maxey with 17. Donovan Mitchell paced Cleveland with 23 points, and Evan Mobley added 22.
The injury list mattered on both sides. The Sixers were without center Adem Bona because of a cervical spine sprain, while Cleveland missed Jarrett Allen with a right knee contusion. Sam Merrill did not return for the second half after suffering a right elbow injury.
Philadelphia got the night off to a promising start when Edgecombe opened the scoring with a slam after a missed Merrill three. That was about as good as it got early. Cleveland answered with a 15-0 burst fueled by six straight points from Mitchell, and the Sixers once again looked a step behind from the opening quarter.
The early issues piled up quickly. Philadelphia missed its first four attempts from deep, including two from LeBron James, and Cleveland controlled the transition game while taking care of the ball. Edgecombe picked up his second foul with 7:34 left in the first quarter, adding to the pressure.
Joel Embiid was visibly frustrated by a couple of early no-calls, but the bigger issue was his shot. He couldn’t get anything to fall outside of free throws and finished 0 for 9 from the floor. The seven-time All-Star ended with six points and seven rebounds.
Embiid’s rough shooting start has already been a storyline, especially from long range, where he’s now 3 for 28 (10.7 percent). Friday was an extreme version of that struggle. He’s also been playing through right foot plantar fasciitis, and the Sixers have been monitoring his minutes, so his availability will be worth watching going forward.
James had an off night too, finishing with eight points on 3-for-12 shooting to go with eight rebounds, three assists and six turnovers. As a team, the Sixers shot 36.5 percent from the field and 25 percent from three.
There were at least a few signs of life in the second quarter, and Edgecombe was right in the middle of them. With Jabari Walker back in the rotation as the backup center in Bona’s absence, the Sixers trimmed the gap and got within 48-41 on a Walker fast-break dunk. Walker gave them some useful minutes defensively and on the boards, including work when switched onto James Harden.
Edgecombe then took over that stretch. He buried three threes in the second quarter, scored 15 points in the period and added three steals. For a second-year player dealing with early foul trouble, he bounced back with real force and kept Philadelphia within striking distance.
The Sixers made one more push when Maxey jumped a steal and fed Edgecombe with a slick one-handed bounce pass for a dunk, cutting the deficit to 66-63. But Cleveland kept answering. Brown did his part to keep Philadelphia afloat, hitting several shots and reaching 20 points for a third straight game after his 30-point outing against the Pistons.
Even with that, the offense never found a real rhythm. The Cavaliers held the lead, stretched it late in the third quarter and then opened up a margin of more than 20 points early in the fourth. Embiid did not play in the final period and finished with 25 minutes.
His scoreless night from the field was a rare one. It was just the second time in his career he’s gone without a made field goal, the other coming in November 2019 against the Raptors.
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