Donovan Mitchell’s 37 points weren’t enough as Cavs fall to 76ers 132-129

The Cavaliers have dropped their second game in a row.

The NBA is a make-or-miss league. As bad as the Philadelphia 76ers have been this season, they weren’t on Friday night as they seemingly couldn’t miss from beyond the arc. They went 21-39 (53.8%) from three leading to their 132-129 win.

This was a back-and-forth game throughout. The Cavs took a six-point lead with just over six minutes to play. Things fell apart from there as Philadelphia went on a 17-6 run to grab an eight-point advantage with under a minute and a half left. The Cavs responded with a few quick baskets to make it a one-possession game.

Cleveland wasn’t able to get closer than a one-point game in the final minute. They couldn’t get the ball inbounded on two sideline out-of-bounds plays down three with nine seconds left. Ty Jerome had to burn a timeout after the Sixers stopped the first action. He threw it out of bounds after the second timeout. This overshadowed what was a great performance from Jerome.

The Cavs ran into Philadelphia on the wrong night. This isn’t the shooting team the Sixers have been all season. They came into this game 26th in three-point percentage (34.3%). It’s unfortunate for the Cavs that the Sixers were shooting this well, but they also didn’t do much to stop them. Cleveland’s zone defense that’s been good for parts of the season, provided little resistance in this one.

Philadelphia was able to create clean looks seemingly whenever they wanted to. And when the Cavs did contest, the shots seemed to go in anyways. It was one of those nights.

Cleveland’s injuries didn’t help them defensively. Evan Mobley, Isaac Okoro, and Caris LeVert were held out of this game. Dean Wade also exited the game with a knee injury in the second half. Those are four defenders the Cavaliers could’ve used down the stretch.

Philadelphia's shooting overshadowed what was a good bounce-back game from Donovan Mitchell. He was able to create space for his three-point shot off the dribble while also doing a good job of finishing in the paint. This allowed him to go 7-15 from three and 4-5 from the restricted area. This added up to 37 points and 7 assists on 12-23 shooting.

Jerome also had an outstanding game. His outside shot remains lethal when he has time to get it off. That was the case on Friday as he went a perfect 8-8 from three en route to a 33-point performance.

Darius Garland also had a strong game as he provided 26 points and 7 assists on 10-21 shooting.

Jarrett Allen didn’t have the impact Cleveland needed. Philadelphia was thin on the front line with Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond out. This should’ve led to Allen feasting inside. Instead, he was out there while the Sixers continually got offensive rebounds while making little impact on offense as he provided just 8 points on 4-8 shooting. The Cavs needed more.

Paul Geroge led the Sixers with 30 points on 11-21 shooting. Tyrese Maxey added 29 points. Kelly Oubre Jr. provided 22 points on 8-16 shooting with 13 rebounds.

This is the second loss in a row for the Cavs. It’s something they haven’t done since the end of November when they dropped two straight to the Atlanta Hawks.

It’s dangerous to overreact to these back-to-back losses. Games like this happen to even great teams. That’s just a reality of life in the NBA. It’s a testament to how good the Cavaliers have been this season that these two-game losing streaks stand out as much as they do.

The Cavs don’t have time to lick their wounds. They’ll try to bounce back on Saturday as they host the Houston Rockets.