Cleveland Cavaliers Dominate Philadelphia 76ers To Secure Their 23rd Win Of Season
In one of the more non-competitive games on the NBA slate for Wednesday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers notched their 23rd win of the season in a 133-107 thumping of the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Cavaliers Win Comes With a Cost
Despite walking away with the victory tonight, the Cavaliers saw a couple of their key players, Darius Garland and Sam Merrill, go down with injuries during the game. Garland exited the game in the third quarter after suffering a right foot injury, while Merrill would leave with a right-hand injury. Both players have been instrumental in helping the Cavs recover from a slow start this season.
The injury news is most concerning for Garland in particular. The Cavaliers’ All-Star guard has dealt with multiple injuries, which have limited him to just 25 games this season. Garland had previously been dealing with a reaggravation of his left big toe, which he had undergone surgery to repair this past offseason. There has not been any word released by the Cavaliers on the severity of Garland’s latest injury.
In both Garland and Merrill’s absence, the Cavaliers leaned on other star players like Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley, who both put together great performances tonight. Mitchell finished with a solid stat line of 35 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists, while also scoring 20 of his 35 points in the third quarter to help the Cavs run away with the game. Meanwhile, Mobley showed off his two-way prowess by scoring an efficient 17 points to go along with 4 blocks and 1 steal.
Sixers Home Court Struggles Continue
While the Sixers possess one of the rowdier home crowds in the league, the team continues to struggle mightily in the safe confines of Xfinity Mobile Arena this season. Tonight’s loss officially moved the Sixers overall home record to just 10-10, a record that isn’t usually the norm for Philadelphia over the past few years.
There also weren’t many bright spots to be seen tonight for the Sixers, as only three players scored in double figures in the game. One of those few bright spots for the Sixers was their star center, Joel Embiid, who led the way on offense while also reaching a notable career milestone.
The former MVP led the way in scoring for the Sixers with 20 points while adding 7 rebounds to boot. Those 20 points also put Embiid over 13,000 points for his career, a nice milestone for the seven-time All-Star despite the loss.
Cavaliers and Sixers Stay Put In Eastern Conference Standings
There wasn’t much movement to be had when it comes to the standings for both teams tonight, as the middle portion of the East standings remains jam-packed. While the loss tonight doesn’t cause the Sixers to slide any further down the standings, it does put them precisely a game and a half behind the Toronto Raptors for the fourth-place spot in the East.
For the Cavaliers, they’ll remain in the seventh-place position with the win for the time being, as they sit half a game back of the Orlando Magic for sixth place. Both the Cavaliers and Sixers will meet again on Friday for a chance to actually shake up the standings.
