The Cleveland Cavaliers’ encouraging season is in danger of going down the tubes.
They’ve lost six of their past seven games, including three in a row, heading into their home game Sunday against the Toronto Raptors.
The Cavs dropped a 125-119 decision to the surging Philadelphia 76ers on Friday when they squandered a 21-point lead in their 43-point opening quarter.
Cleveland is holding onto the sixth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, two games ahead of No. 7 Toronto. Both teams are striving to avoid the play-in tournament or falling out of the playoff picture altogether, and that’s why Sunday’s game is so important to them.
Despite the loss to the Sixers, Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff was happy with the way his struggling team played against one of the league’s elite teams.
“We finally looked like ourselves,” he said.
Bickerstaff said his team came out with an “attack mindset” against Philadelphia.
“We needed to play in a more aggressive style of basketball,” he said. “The guys understood that.”
The Cavs kept 76ers center Joel Embiid in check with 22 points and nine rebounds. His counterpart, Jarrett Allen, almost matched him with 20 points and seven rebounds for Cleveland.
Cavs point guard Darius Garland was outstanding against Philadelphia with 26 points and a career-high 19 assists.
“He was trying to will us to win,” Bickerstaff said. “He did a great job of trying to get everyone involved.”
Garland said the game featured a “playoff atmosphere” and the Sixers are a team that Cleveland could face in the postseason. He said he liked his team’s mentality.
“We talked about it all week, having that fight,” he said.
The Cavaliers will try to slow down Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, who had 34 points and 14 rebounds in Toronto’s 103-97 loss to Orlando on Friday.
Raptors coach Nick Nurse said Siakam “played his guts out.”
The 6-foot-8, 230-pounder is averaging 21.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists on the season.
Gary Trent Jr., who had a stretch of five consecutive games with 30 or more points between Jan. 25 and Feb. 1, has hit the skids. He shot just 2 of 12 from the floor and missed all nine of his 3-point attempts against Orlando for four points in 27 minutes.
“(He looks more) off rhythm than heavy-legged,” Nurse said.
The Raptors have been playing without two key players: OG Anunoby (ring finger fracture) and Fred VanVleet (right knee soreness).
Toronto is starting a six-game road trip in Cleveland.
The Cavs have been playing without guards Rajon Rondo (sprained big toe) and Caris LeVert (sprained foot). Rondo is the closest to making a return.
They have beaten Toronto twice this season, including a 144-99 victory on Dec. 26 when the Raptors had 10 players in the health and safety protocol. They had just eight active players in the game, which allowed the Cavs to record a season high in points and assists (39).
“We’re still in the race,” Garland said. “We might have the second easiest (schedule of games remaining) in the league, but this isn’t easy.”
The Cavs were outscored 28-20 in the fourth quarter of the Philadelphia game. Garland said turnovers, poor shot selection and the Sixers’ making tough shots led to their demise.
Cleveland also got 22 points from Isaac Okoro and 20 from Cedi Osman in the game.
–Field Level Media
