Doc Rivers lists reasons Sixers were blown out by Cavaliers
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The Philadelphia 76ers had an absolutely miserable start to their three-game road trip. They were blasted by the Cleveland Cavaliers, 113-85, on Wednesday night.
The Cavs shot 16-for-17 and scored 44 points in the second quarter. The Sixers couldn’t recover, and Cleveland led by as many as 33.
Philadelphia shot 41.6% on the night compared to Cleveland shooting 60.8%. The Cavs drilled 15 3-pointers while the Sixers had six. The Cavaliers also shot 73% in the first half . They were the team who clearly had the energy and the burst from the beginning.
Joel Embiid led the Sixers with 19 points, six rebounds, and six assists on a night where Philadelphia could not find a groove on either end.
Afterward, coach Doc Rivers listed a few reasons for Philadelphia getting blown out:
Rivers on his reaction to the loss
“It was a schedule loss. That’s how it felt. When you can see guys — they just had no energy, no legs. Yeah, so not much tonight (Wednesday).”
On if he felt like the team could get it together
“Sometimes, you still can get them. You can see it early. We were dead. We were flat and sometimes, you get through the game, you can get into it, there was no signs of that coming tonight. You can just see it. Offensively and defensively. I mean 73% in the first half, you’re never gonna win that game.”
On if he can come up with a reason why the Sixers looked so flat
“We played a lot of games. Flying all the way home from Orlando for one game, but give them credit. Like we’ve beaten them four times in a row. We swept him last year, right? They have pride and you could feel them coming into the game. I told our guys before the game it’s gonna be a hard game. They’re fresh, they’re gonna attack you. They do not want to lose to you again, and if you don’t have a great mental mindset, tonight, it’s gonna be a tough game. That’s what it was.”
On the second half
“Even the shots in the second half, we had a chance to cut it to 20, we missed a layup. Georges (Niang) misses wide-open shots. It was just one of those games and my thought literally from the middle of the third is how can I get guys rest? And guys who haven’t played like Joel, let’s get him some more minutes in a row. I literally was using the game for that for the rest of the game.”
On what he is disappointed in
“Nothing. Nothing. I mean, listen, the list is too long, but there may be reasons for that. This is one I want to go watch the tape and see if there’s anything we could have done different.”
