The Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in what is probably going to go down as the single most impressive win of their season.
Joel Embiid, Nico Batum, De'Anthony Melton and Robert Covington were ruled out heading into the game. Tobias Harris was ruled out prior to tip-off due to left hip impingement. The Cavs were missing a few role players but had their core four healthy. And yet, Nick Nurse's squad fought until the end and saved itself from blowing a 10-point lead.
“Just told 'em I'm proud of 'em,” Nurse said to reporters after the game, “and how hard they played and telling them they gotta gut these out. Just another one that, again, we're doing a lot of good things, playing hard and then hanging in there when it gets a little shaky, where [we're] on the road and the crowd gets going and stuff. But we hung in there and made some plays.”
Tyrese Maxey's 22 points and nine assists, Buddy Hield's 24 points and eight assists and Kelly Oubre Jr.'s 24 points were the key drivers of the Sixers' success. Paul Reed, Mo Bamba, Cam Payne, Ricky Council IV and KJ Martin all played important roles, too. This was a team win through and through against a squad that had won 17 of its last 18 games.
Nurse didn’t outright say that this 76ers' win was the best of the season when asked about it. But he certainly loved seeing his team fight through a tough game and come out on top. After picking up this win following a victory on Saturday over the Washington Wizards, Philly is retaining a bit of breathing room as they try to survive in Embiid's absence.
“It's a pretty good one, I think,” he said. “I don't know if I would go that far but I think that, like I said, anything we can pick off right now is really important that we just can pick something off here and there. We found a way to get a couple, so it's good. Hopefully, we can get one more leading into the break and then get some guys back healthy.”
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