1 stud, 1 dud from Cavs’ dispiriting loss to the 76ers

Saturday night the Cleveland Cavaliers took on the Philadelphia 76ers for the first time this season. It was an interesting quirk of the schedule, as the two teams will meet three more times before the end of the season. Given that both teams are very much in the mix for the top seed in the East, these four games could be major difference-makers.

With the 76ers short-handed after their blockbuster trade on Thursday it was the perfect opportunity for the Cavs to notch the first win in the season series. Instead Joel Embiid showed why he is the current MVP favorite and dropped 40 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in one of the more dominant triple-doubles you will see.

The Cavs were powerless to stop Joel Embiid and the 76ers on Saturday night. Who were one stud and one dud from a dispiriting loss?

Context is important here, as the game was played in Philadelphia one night after the Cavs pulled off the comeback win in Indiana. The 76ers played Friday night as well, but it was at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder, somewhat less of a tiring endeavor.

That being said, the Cavs were not able to hang with the 76ers. In the first and third quarters the 76ers broke out to big leads, and both times the Cavs battled back, even taking the lead briefly in the third quarter. Each time Joel Embiid checked back in and blew the game open once more.

Who stood out for good and for ill on the Cavs? Let’s look at one stud and one dud from a game that could have been a defining win, and instead was a dispiriting loss.

1 stud: Darius Garland

Darius Garland has been battling a back injury off-and-on for a month, and the first-time All-Star has missed five of Cleveland’s last seven games. After taking the night off in Indiana he played against the 76ers and at times carried the Cavaliers’ offense on his back.

The first-time All-Star scored a team-high 27 points (no other player had more than 13) including 3-of-6 from downtown. He was the only player on the team able to consistently get into the paint and score, unloading his patented floater and also taking advantage of minutes without Embiid’s rim presence to score at the basket.

He was far from perfect on the night, as he needed 23 shots to get to his 27 points and recorded just six assists, and he labored his way to six turnovers against the active 76ers defense. Yet without Garland the Cavs likely lose by 30; he was their only consistent source of offense, and his pressure helped to generate looks for his teammates even if it wasn’t an assist opportunity.

Evan Mobley also had a solid game, at times pushing the ball in transition himself and playing good defense on Tobias Harris and Paul Reed. He was an efficient 5-of-6 from the field and had 11 points and eight rebounds; he was also a +1 on the night. Shouts to Dean Wade who continues to prove his value, contributing 10 points and logging a +14 in his 25 minutes.

1 dud: Jarrett Allen

Jarrett Allen is rightfully considered an All-Star snub, losing out on a spot that was instead given to Khris Middleton by coaches who don’t seem to have been watching this season very closely and just chose frontcourt players by reputation. He seems to have channeled that chip on his shoulder to some dominant games in the past two weeks.

Then he ran into Joel Embiid, not only an All-Star starter but one of the front-runners for MVP. Allen is making $20 million per season on a new contract to provide size inside, to help the Cavs match up against some of the bigger interior players in the East while Evan Mobley builds his weight and strength up.

While Allen has certainly brought that interior presence for much of the season, he came up empty against Embiid on Saturday night. Embiid scored 40 points, much of that in a direct matchup with Allen. In a 10-point loss, Allen played 33 minutes and was a -27 on the night. He had one highlight block on Embiid, but also was the unfortunate victim of a Dunk of the Year nominee.

The Cavs should be good enough to not only hang with a team like the Philadelphia 76ers, but beat them, especially in a situation where they trade three rotation players for James Harden but don’t yet have the All-Star in their lineup. Allen was hardly the only Cavs player to struggle — Isaac Okoro could only muster one shot, while the bench shot 10-of-31 from the field. Yet he went up mano a mano with Embiid and was clobbered as thoroughly as that dunk above indicates.

The Cavs have a couple of nights to stew over this loss before taking on the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night in their final game before the All-Star Break. They’ll get three more cracks at Embiid and the 76ers too. Hopefully they can evaluate what went wrong on Saturday night and rebound to continue to fight for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.