Sixers Succumb to the King in Cleveland

By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)

Cleveland 108, Philadelphia 102 – Box Score

For the second time this week, the 76ers entered halftime with a lead against the Cavaliers. And for the second time this week, the best basketball player of this generation seemed super pissed and determined to change things around in a hurry. LeBron James, who finished with game-highs of 31 points and 13 assists, scored 12 points as Cleveland started the second half on a 16-2 run to put the game basically out of reach for the Sixers. Time and again, James was a force in transition, either feeding the 35-year-old Richard Jefferson (17 points) to make him look like a viable NBA player again, or simply going supernova himself.

LeBron JAMES! https://t.co/3LAe1i01LN

— Nice Kicks (@nicekicks) November 7, 2015

To their credit, the Sixers hung around behind some strong play from Nerlens Noel and Nik Stauskas. The game was still within 11 points with about 4 minutes left, when Isaiah Canaan, fed up with Matthew Dellavedova’s usual chippy play, made the bone-headed move to throw the ball at Delly’s feet after the whistle and picked up a technical. Brett Brown was not happy.

Someone might want to get Isaiah Canaan a body guard for after the game. Brett Brown looked like he was about to strangle him.

— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) November 7, 2015

After some garbage time scoring from Canaan (17 points) made the final look closer than it truly was, the team will head back home Saturday night to face Orlando, looking to break what’s now a five-game losing streak to start the season. At least the Sixers can take solace in the fact that it will be another six weeks before they have to deal with King James again.

Other Game Notes:

• Noel was awesome on both ends of the floor, finishing with 18 points, 12 rebounds, 5 steals, and 2 blocks. The defensive stuff we have come to expect, but Nerlens looks so much better offensively, hitting the mid-range jumper, finishing hook shots with both hands around the basket, dribbling the ball up court a bit. It’s amazing to watch someone who was already playing at a high level as a rookie continue to make strides in his second season.
• Jahlil Okafor didn’t have a bad night offensively, finishing with 18 points on 8-17 shooting, but he was an absolute train wreck on the other end. All night, Big Jah was pushed around on the glass by Timofey Mozgov and Kevin Love. The Cavs grabbed 11 offensive rebounds to just 7 for the Sixers (of which, Noel had 5). Also, Okafor has a habit of just letting opposing players fly past him unmolested to the hoop. The rim protection is virtually non-existent when Noel is out of the game or pulled away from the basket by his defensive assignment.
• Stauskas had a terrific game getting to the rim for high-percentage finishes. He tallied 14 points on 6-10 shooting, with at least 3 of those baskets coming from dribble drives he created from nothing by himself. Nik is much more than just a spot-up shooter, and it’s fun to watch him spread his wings with the confidence he receives from the coaching staff in Philadelphia.
• Finally, who knows what to make of the point guard situation right now. McConnell looked great in the first quarter, including this tremendous assist/steal/three-pointer sequence at the end of the frame:

https://twitter.com/wesley_share/status/662799125201580032

Yet, McConnell was a -16 on the game, and Brett Brown barely went to him in the second half. Newcomer Phil Pressey was such a trainwreck, jacking terrible shots and committing a pair of bad turnovers, that Brown quickly went back on his statement that Isaiah Canaan would play as an off guard. Canaan was the Sixers’ point guard for the majority of the second half, and actually played fairly well by his standards until the punk move that drew the technical foul call. If you know what the deal is here, let me know, because I’m largely at a loss.