3 players the Cavaliers do not want to see in the NBA Playoffs

Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers and Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers and Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images
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Cleveland Cavaliers
Jarrett Allen, Cleveland Cavaliers and Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers. Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

Players Cavaliers don’t want to see in playoffs: Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers have built something of a rivalry over the past few seasons, even if they haven’t had any playoff series against one another. The current standings would keep the two teams separate until the Eastern Conference Finals, but there are a number of outcomes where the two end up in the same bracket in the first or second round.

The Cavs have to hope that the Sixers are on the opposite side, because Joel Embiid has their number. Cleveland has faced Embiid six times in the past two seasons, and the center has averaged over 31 points per game and about 13 rebounds per game in those contests.

Basketball Reference has a metric called “Game Score” that takes a player’s box-score numbers in the context of each game and assigns a score to that player’s performance. No player has had a better average Game Score when facing the Cavs the past two seasons than Embiid’s 28.7. Despite the Cavs’ size, the MVP candidate has dominated them inside and out each time.

Any playoff series will be challenging, and stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum, Nikola Jokic and Stephen Curry will all be difficult to face as well. These three, however, have been particularly lethal against the Cavs’ roster recently and would be daunting opponents in the playoffs.