Sixers Lose Laugher in Cleveland

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Cleveland 108, Philadelphia 86 – Box Score

Another day, another game Philadelphia 76ers fans would have been wise to do literally anything else besides spend 2-plus hours watching what can only be charitably called a professional basketball team. Following what was actually a promising first quarter, the Sixers absolutely fell to pieces in the second, committing 10 turnovers in a frame they dropped 34-13.

It was all laughter and alley-oops for the Cavaliers from there on out (whether it was J.R. Smith throwing one to LeBron or Kyrie Irving tossing an underhanded shovel pass to Jared Cunningham). Irving made his season debut, as Cleveland waited to return him to action against what they essentially viewed as a glorified practice. The Sixers did nothing to prove the Cavaliers wrong.

Given the fact that there was basically nothing positive about this game from a Philadelphia perspective, I’ll give this writeup as much effort as the Sixers showed out on the court (which is about half a Jakarr much). The hiring of Mike D’Antoni hasn’t worked any overnight miracles with the offense, as the team shot just 34.9% from the field, and were down below 30% late in the second half.

The offense isn’t the least discouraging part, as the Sixers have always been terrible offensively during The Process. Rather, the fact that after being in the top half of the league defensively, Philadelphia can’t stop anyone is the most troubling aspect of this season. The guards cannot stop dribble penetration, there’s no rim protection with Jahlil Okafor manning the paint, and the team gets beat back in transition much more than a team that would need to out-hustle the opposition to win ever should. The Sixers also don’t force turnovers anymore, which means they’re relying on half court offense even more, with predictable results.

The organization has recently brought in a new executive and a new associate coach, but there still haven’t been any major changes to the roster. Philadelphia will have one game at home Tuesday night, before going on their annual Disney on Ice road trip for six games. If this on-court play persists (and there’s every indication it will), I’d expect something to happen by the time the team returns to Philadelphia in January.