In their best victory of the 2023-24 season, the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road without Joel Embiid and three other starters. The Sixers mounted big leads and lost them here and there but held to secure their second straight win.
Buddy Hield continued his outstanding start to his 76ers tenure with 24 points, eight assists and four rebounds on 9-13 shooting. Tyrese Maxey notched 22 points, nine assists and four rebounds and Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 24 points on 10-14 shooting. Cleveland was led by Donovan Mitchell, who had 36 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals. Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen each scored 21 points with the former tallying nine assists and the latter hauling in 10 rebounds.
The 76ers scored at will against one of the NBA's best defenses and did a good enough job with its own defense to stun the red-hot Cavs in their own building. Several big performances powered Philly in its massively impressive win. Let's jump into the film.
Buddy's balling
The addition of Hield has given the Sixers a massive boost for all the reasons one would expect. He's averaging 22.3 points per game with Philly as one of its lead options while shooting 44.8 percent from deep on high volume. But his impact goes beyond putting the ball in the net. His playmaking has popped so far in Philly — a result not just because of how often he has the ball but how well he can weaponize his shooting gravity.
In a simple dribble handoff with Reed, Max Strus cannot go underneath the screen. That would be conceding an open triple for one of basketball's best shooters. Evan Mobley then has to step up, opening up the paint for Reed to roll. Hield snapping the bounce pass right into the bread basket without breaking stride prevents Mobley from cheating back to the roller.
The movement from Hield is always purposeful. He knows where to be to get open and provide an outlet for a teammate, as he did with Bamba earlier in the game. The chase action, where a ball-handler passes and immediately chases after the ball to get into a dribble handoff, will work beautifully with a shooter like Hield. He ran it with Reed on a possession in the third quarter that drew in three defenders and would have resulted in Hield getting the hockey assist had Reed made the semi-open push shot.
Nick Nurse has put Hield in situations where he gets the ball as his defender is forced to close out hard to him. Late in the game, the Sixers turned to a Spain pick-and-roll. Hield sets a great screen, forcing his man to slide down on Mo Bamba. When Hield gets the ball, he knows his defender has to hustle back. One easy blow-by later, Hield dumps it off to Bamba for a dunk.
Hield can handle the ball and isn’t an inferior athlete but he's also not one to routinely blow past his man off the dribble. Yet he can open avenues into the arc consistently because of his work away from the ball and quick decision-making. Late in the game, Hield attacked Caris LeVert off the catch and got stopped in his tracks. But he stayed with it and converted an awkwardly angled layup, which he has done multiple times in just his first three games with Philly.
Shooting from deep might be Hield's bread and butter but his shot diet is expansive and more well-balanced than one might think.
Big-time big men
Nick Nurse said previously that he talked with Mo Bamba and Pau Reed about being consistent with Embiid sidelined. Since the trade deadline passed with no new center coming to Philly, the need for them to step up was even more dire. Going up against one of the best frontcourts in the league, they each did a very nice job.
Reed tallied 13 points, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks. His defense and hustle, of course, proved to be important. But perhaps nothing stood out more from Bball Paul's performance as his layup package. While Hield's playmaking was impressive, it takes two to tango. The dancefloor was crowded but Reed still two-stepped his way to points. He knew better than to go straight up and challenge them, leading to an array of different moves around and under them.
As seen previously, one of Hield's assists went to Reed, who hung in midair long enough to tilt the ball back before laying it up. He split the rim protectors on another roll to the hoop and seamlessly scored on a double-pump layup through a foul.
After one offensive rebound, he scored on a lefty push shot off the glass, discarding Mobley as he pulled the chair away from the defender for a change. The move is so simple yet so effective. If defenses try to take it away more, it would simply leave guys on the perimeter open, as Cam Payne is as the shot goes up.
Meanwhile, Bamba had eight rebounds of his own along with seven points. His presence in the paint has been minuscule in various games over the season. In this one, he towered over the Cavs and made their lives tough in the paint.
For the most part, Bamba patrolled the paint nicely. Nothing came too easy for the player he guarded and he did a good job of stepping up to help against others. Detering LeVert of a layup and then consuming an Allen layup in the span of a few seconds was his best sequence of the night.
Bamba kept his head on a swivel, staying alert of his surroundings. Allen gets through the 76ers' perimeter defense but Bamba, knowing Mitchell cut right behind him, doesn’t step up just yet. He waits for Allen to make the first move, resulting in a push shot from a distance that Allen doesn’t always shoot from. Bamba also makes a strong effort on the rebound and is fouled.
The climax of the 76ers' showdown was a spectacular defensive stop by Reed.
With Mitchell charging forward in the final seconds, he slid over at the right time and stayed perfectly vertical to block the shot. The ball caromed back to Mitchell, who swung it to Garland in the corner for an open triple. In what looked like a miniature version of Chris Bosh's rebound-and-assist play to Ray Allen, Cleveland had a golden chance to keep its winning streak intact. Garland's shot came up short. After the play, the two big men celebrated together.
THE SIXERS GET THE FINAL STOP TO TAKE DOWN THE CAVS 🔒
Cleveland's 9-game winning streak is SNAPPED ✂️pic.twitter.com/htnDRuZ7U5
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 13, 2024
Over his last three games, Reed has averaged 12.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 63.0 percent from the field. Being the 76ers' starter has not been super easy for him, as his flaws are exposed a bit more in the additional playing time and more run against starters. But this experience will only make him better. Especially as of late, he's starting to find his footing.
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