The Philadelphia 76ers (10-4) faced the Cleveland Cavaliers (8-6) in their final Group Play game of the NBA In-Season Tournament. Needing a win to keep their hopes for Las Vegas alive, the Sixers stumbled into overtime after a terrible first half and lost by a final score of 122-119.

Let's break down the Sixers' final Group Play game.

Sixers player notes:

Joel Embiid: 32 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 blocks, 2 steals, 9-21 FG shooting

Embiid had to work overtime to get open for a pass but once he did get the ball, he continued his history of dominance against Jarrett Allen. His defense helped get the Sixers somewhat back to competitive basketball in the second half. A scoring rampage in the fourth quarter gave the Sixers a new life and his elite defense continued despite foul trouble (which came for him in the very end).

Having an all-world talent like this means you’re rarely out of a game.

Tyrese Maxey: 30 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 11-28 FG shooting

It was another slow start for Maxey, as it took him until the second quarter to score, though it came in a nice step-back three. He got to cooking in that quarter but the Cavs' hedging and length on defense made things very hard on him. However, he stayed with it and made some huge plays in overtime.

Cavs player notes:

Darius Garland: 32 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, 10-21 FG shooting

Garland had a heavy burden without the Cavs' other top perimeter scorers in action but it did not seem to faze him. No matter who stood in front of them, he beat them off the dribble. He made a ton of tough shots and dimed up his teammates with precise lobs.

Evan Mobley: 18 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 6-10 FG shooting

Mobley's defense was as good as ever and played well within the flow of Cleveland's offense. He did a solid job cleaning the glass on the defensive end and scoring the opportunities he got at the rim.

Game recap:

1st half

The Sixers are still alive in the NBA In-Season Tournament but the odds of them winning East Group A are slim — and they know it. The Indiana Pacers need just one more win to clinch the group and face the Atlanta Hawks tonight and the runt of the group, the Detroit Pistons, on Friday. The Sixers are one of the biggest contenders for the wild card and got a more favorable matchup against the Cavs due to the absence of star guard Donovan Mitchell and sixth man Caris LeVert.

The Cavs put Allen on Embiid, Mobley on Harris and Dean Wade on Maxey. Cleveland searched for and connected on lobs to Allen with the shifty Garland finding space in the middle of the floor. Nico Batum helped stabilize things for Philly with five points and an assist to Embiid. PA announcer Matt Cord brought out a new call for him as he made a triple: Nico “boom boom” Batum. Busting this out as Georges “bang bang” Niang makes his return to Philly is cold.

Defensively, the Sixers surrendered drives way too easily. Then on the other end, they couldn’t get any penetration on Cleveland's defense. Effectiveness in the entry pass eluded them the moment Batum was subbed out. They only went down by six but the execution on the other end was much better to start out. Nick Nurse brought Batum back out to close out the first quarter, but he ended the period with two fouls.

The effort from the Sixers' to start tonight was not that of a team that wanted the NBA Cup. The Cavs came out looking much crisper on offense, getting shots in the paint and converting them at a high rate, while the Sixers settled for tougher shots. Cleveland found space around Embiid's presence to score on lobs and put rim pressure by backing down defenders for closer-range push shots.

Embiid was called for his third foul late in the second quarter, which made Allen's trio of fouls less of a bonus. Nurse went with a new, small-ball lineup of Maxey-Melton-Harris-Batum-Marcus Morris Sr. The switch-everything approach didn’t do much to help on defense, though the spacing on offense did invite space to attack.

Max Strus hit a three at the buzzer to put the Cavs up 65-53 at halftime.

2nd half

Embiid turned the defensive intensity up to start the half, blocking a shot and deflected numerous passes. But he did get yammed on by Mobley on an alley-oop because he had to contain Garland getting by two of his teammates. The Cavs pushed their lead to as high as 18 points early in the half.

Cleveland hustled for offensive rebounds, rotated hard on defense and denied any size advantage Philly tried to get inside. The Sixers could barely string together multiple offensive possessions where they got the shot they wanted. They were able to crawl back into a more manageable deficit before Garland ripped off some quick points. Quick was the name of the game for the Cleveland star; he zoomed past every defender, crumbling the Sixers' defense in the blink of an eye. Even his backup, Craig Porter Jr., carved his way through the defense time after time.

The fact that the Sixers couldn’t pull more even with the Cavs while Maxey spent nearly the whole third quarter playing with Embiid — he came out with less than three minutes left — was super worrying. Philly staying in its drop coverage and switches rather than hedge against Garland to keep him out of the paint was a poor missed chance, especially because Embiid and Harris showed that it was a decent option on a handful of third-quarter possessions.

Trailing by nine entering the final frame, the Sixers' second unit tried relentlessly to poke the ball away and looked to get out and run. It cost them a few fouls. Meanwhile, some poor defense gave Strus an open triple as he made his fifth of the night in seven tries.

When Batum picked up his fifth foul, Nurse chose Patrick Beverley to play in his place. Zagging to a three-guard lineup did not seem like the move with Covington and House each having solid showings but it worked out. With the power of Embiid — with his staunch interior defense and his smooth shooting stroke — the Sixers made it a five-point game. But Embiid also picked up his fifth foul in the process.

Numerous chances to tie it up went empty before Harris drained a triple off of an offensive board. Garland drew a foul on Beverley and got the lead back for Cleveland and Mobley stuffed a Harris dunk attempt before Maxey got a goal-tending call and a shooting foul to take the lead. Down the stretch, Beverley came through with some major hustle plays and a floater that the crowd was terrified of him shooting to get the lead back for the Sixers with 16 seconds left.

Garland answered with two stone-cold free throws. With a tied game and 13.5 seconds left, the Sixers brought Batum in for Beverley. Embiid sized up Tristan Thompson for a mid-range shot and missed. Elsewhere, the Pacers won the track meet to end all track meets. This game ended up becoming a battle for a wild-card spot.

PatBev came back in for Batum in overtime and matched up with Garland. The Sixers needed some Maxey magic to get back ahead, as the dynamo scored at the rim and assisted Philly’s other two OT scores. Porter tried Embiid at the rim and lived to tell the tale, scoring a go-ahead layup before Harris notched the same on a Maxey-assisted corner three.

Back down by one with under 18 seconds left, Maxey missed a layup among the trees, Embiid missed the tip and Batum batted the ball back out…to no one. Embiid fouled out on the must-foul scenario, sending Garland back to the charity stripe. He padded the Cavs' lead to three. On their last chance, with two seconds remaining, Batum flubbed the inbound pass. Philly’s chances of competing in the IST are just about cooked.

Random rumblings:

  • The latest Kelly Oubre Jr. updates were very promising. In his pregame media availability, Nurse didn’t rule out the possibility of him playing next week, though it was a very cautious strain of optimism. He indicated that it's very dependent on how well Oubre does against contact in his on-court drills.
  • The Cavs continue to cheer when they get called for defensive three-second violations. I respect the commitment to a weird bit.

The Sixers are in for a very tough game tomorrow when they face the Minnesota Timberwolves, the top team in the Western Conference, in their house at 8:00 PM EST.