The Sixers showed some fight in their loss to Cleveland and that’s a step in the right direction.
The Sixers play their second game in the NBA Cup on Friday night against Orlando. It’s the first of a three-game road trip that will see them stay in Florida for a game against the Heat on Monday and finish up in Memphis on Wednesday.
The first month of the season has been far from kind to the Sixers. It’s the middle of November and they’ve still yet to win a game in regulation. However, their most recent defeat at the hands of the Cavaliers this past Wednesday night might give at least optimistic fans reason to think that things are going to turn around.
I’m not writing this column to suggest fans should start claiming moral victories. But the fact of the matter about their most recent game was that the Sixers went toe-to-toe with the hottest team in the NBA without all three of Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George. It’s also worth noting that Cleveland is taking the opposite approach to the season that the Sixers have opted for. Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland have played all 13 games for the Cavs and there’s no indication out of Cleveland that either is poised for some rest. The chemistry that Cleveland has built probably has a lot to do with its hot start.
Despite all of that, Cleveland’s largest lead was just 10 points against the Sixers. Reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week Garland’s team-high 25 points were outdone by Jared McCain’s 34 for Philadelphia. Guerschon Yabusele’s strong start continued as the Frenchman finished one rebound shy of his first double-double of the season and added five assists. Caleb Martin and Kelly Oubre had efficient nights en route to double-digit scoring outputs and Reggie Jackson added 13 points off the bench.
To be perfectly clear, the Sixers front office and coaching staff both deserve a ton of blame for the team’s slow start. They knew Embiid would be used sparingly out of the gate. George was injured in the preseason. Maxey’s hamstring strain was harder to plan around but it shouldn’t have taken as long as it did for all the role players to perform as cohesively as they did against Cleveland. Nevertheless, it happened and now it’s on Nick Nurse and his staff to ensure the team carries over the positive signs from the Cleveland into the upcoming road trip.
Your guess is as good as mine when it comes to how Embiid and George will be deployed during the regular season, but the Sixers do not have a back-to-back again until Dec. 3 and 4. The tail end of that back-to-back is another game against Orlando and marks the approximate quarter turn of the 2024-25 season for Philadelphia as it is the 20th game of the year.
Given the consistent flow of off days during the next 15-20 days, we should see at least one of Embiid or George on the court most nights moving forward. Fortunately for the Sixers, Maxey’s injury doesn’t appear to be serious so the fifth-year guard might be able to return at some point during the next two weeks. It doesn’t look like the Sixers will be down all three of their stars in one game any time soon like they were against Cleveland.
There’s a lot of reasons to think the Cleveland game was a springboard into some more victories for Philadelphia. It looks like the role players gained some confidence despite the loss. As Embiid and George become more available, said role players should only pick up more confidence given they won’t have to carry as much of the load.
I suppose every fan has their own imaginary line drawn on when the Sixers have to get their act together. Pessimistic ones have probably already stopped paying attention given the slew of negative headlines that hit the team in the first month. Optimistic ones will point to the entire Eastern Conference below Cleveland and Boston hovering around .500 or worse out of the gate and proceed as if there’s nothing to worry about. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle which makes games 11-20 for the Sixers this season hold a little more importance than they did in previous seasons. The Magic will enter Friday’s game on a four-game winning streak so the matchup will provide at least a little bit of an answer as to if the Sixers are waking up.