HEADLINE

76ers bid to halt losing streak vs. Cavaliers

Field Level Media

November 16, 2019 at 5:44 pm.

The Philadelphia 76ers will look to snap a two-game losing streak on Sunday afternoon when they visit the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The 76ers dropped road games to the Orlando Magic on Wednesday and Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday and have lost five of seven overall. Philadelphia is 4-0 at home and 3-5 on the road.

Joel Embiid registered his sixth double-double of the season with 31 points and 12 rebounds and Josh Richardson added a season-high 28 points in Philadelphia’s 127-119 overtime loss to the Thunder on Friday. But once the game was extended to overtime, the Thunder pulled away rather easily.

“We’re obviously frustrated,” said forward Tobias Harris, who scored 21 points and hit 3 of 4 shots from 3-point range to snap an 0-for-23 drought.

“Losing five of seven is not where we want to be. It’s early in the season, and right now, we’re going to progress and get better and find ways to figure out ways to help each other and help our team and go from there.”

In the loss, Ben Simmons put up 16 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, but all of his field-goal attempts came close to the basket. Simmons has been criticized for not being willing to shoot jumpers in the mid-range game or from 3-point land. Simmons has yet to attempt a 3-pointer this season.

“I just played. I went to the hole, was being aggressive and tried to make the right play every time,” Simmons said. “And just being me. J-Rich (Richardson) and Joel (Embiid) told me to keep playing that way and get out of my own way.”

The Cavaliers enter this matchup with a 4-7 record and a two-game losing streak, but first-year head coach John Beilein appears to have made the team relevant again.

Cleveland was nipped 98-97 at Philadelphia on Tuesday after Kevin Love missed a wide-open 3-pointer in the final seconds.

In their most recent game, the Cavaliers fell 108-97 at home to the Miami Heat on Thursday. Love had 21 points and 10 rebounds while Collin Sexton added 15 points.

But the loss came at a cost as forward Larry Nance Jr. left the game in the fourth quarter when he appeared to injure his left hand on a dunk. Nance was taken to the locker room and didn’t return.

“I’ll be all right,” Nance told reporters. “I’m going to get some treatment so we’ll know more later. I’m not necessarily certain (what happened). I just felt the pain.”

Despite being three games under .500, the Cavaliers have taken lessons from recent losses to teams such as the Sixers and Heat.

“They have a good system, they play well together, and that was a complete mismatch in ball movement and defense,” Beilein said of the Heat.

“And second half, I thought we were able to make a lot of positive strides in the right direction, but way too much to overcome. That’s why they are 8-3, and there’s a reason why we are 4-7. We have a lot of work to do.”