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Demolished: Cav...

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Third Quarter

It looked like an early season third quarter rather quickly as it took the Sixers over three minutes and a timeout to score a point. Maxey didn’t start the half but subbed in after the first possession, which was odd. The Sixers were also on the wrong end of a poster tonight after Evan Mobley got Andre Drummond after storming past KJ Martin.

Once Maxey did get on the board, that kickstarted an 18-6 extended run for the Sixers that cut the lead under single digits. George, who was struggling again, hit his first three of the night as well during this stretch. Also during this stretch they went small with Yabusele at the five, and put Adem Bona in the first time later when they had to sub for Yabu.

While Mitchell and Mobley led the charge for Cleveland in the first half, it was Garland who started to punish the Sixers in the third and squash their momentum. He had already put up 13 points in the first but put up another 13 in the next quarter. Through three he was shooting 9-of-11 from the field and 6-of-7 from beyond the arc, and the Cavs led by 23.

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Fourth Quarter

The game’s rotation continued to expand as Jeff Dowtin Jr. was out there to start the fourth, his first NBA action in over a month. He is the only bench guard under 30 at the moment. The Sixers continued to score at a snail’s pace while the Cavs continued to rain down threes on the other end.

The Sixers did bring Maxey and George back out there, but only for a couple of minutes as this one was well out of hand. As Drummond said earlier this week after a practice, it was time to put those two in bubble wrap.

The Sixers next matchup will be their last home game of 2024 as they host the San Antonio Spurs Monday at 7 p.m. ET.

That is certainly a step up in terms of quality of opponent.

The Sixers got demolished 126-99 by the Cleveland Cavaliers with both teams on the second half of a back-to-back.

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Tyrese Maxey still managed to lead all scorers despite hardly playing the fourth quarter. He finished with 27 points shooting 8-of-22 from the field and 5-of-10 from three-point range. Paul George struggled again with 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting.

Darius Garland led Cleveland in scoring with 26 points while Evan Mobley had 22 points shooting 10-of-14 from the field.

Joel Embiid was out due to rest.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First Quarter

Maxey begun the night just like last, nailing a pair of threes to kick things off. He’s jumped up to averaging two steals a game this year and he notched his first tonight hustling back to swipe a pass Mitchell did not put enough zip on.

Kelly Oubre Jr. was also off to a good start for the second straight night and again his biggest impact was probably on the glass. He’s up to 5.8 rebounds a game but a lot of his best work has been the shots he’s tipped out to the perimeter. He also had a steal of his own along with six points in the quarter.

After a slow start Cleveland ended the quarter on a 13-5 run that was largely fueled by Donovan Mitchell. He got a continuation and-1 on a dunk despite taking a dribble after the foul occurred. Despite a hot start for the Sixers the game was locked at 30 after one.

Second Quarter

Caleb Martin was back after missing three games — which doesn’t sound like a lot but he’s actually been out 13 days with the pace the season’s slowed down to. He looked pretty good early on with a couple drives that led to layups for him. He also found KJ Martin off a baseline drive for a corner three.

After that quick start to the quarter, the Sixers went on a run where they scored one field goal over five minutes. Instead of missed shots, turnovers have been a bigger reason for slowing down the offense as of late. They had 10 in the first half.

Guerschon Yabusele was 0-for-his last four games from behind the three point arc. Him getting one to go down was about the only positive to close the half. That, as well as an absurd buzzer beater by Ricky Council IV from about 40 feet which was certainly an interesting shot selection. On the other end Cleveland shot 60% from three as they led by 11 at the half.