National Basketball Association

Philadelphia 76ers Loss To Cavaliers Win In Team Development

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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In their third preseason game, the Philadelphia 76ers lost to the defending NBA Champions Cleveland Cavaliers 108-105. But losing one game pushed the team’s development months ahead of schedule.

The Philadelphia 76ers played just their third game of the preseason, a hard fought loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Now at 1-2, with star rookie Ben Simmons and a host of other players injured, and the team struggling to resolve the point guard as well as the center position, fans may experience some Déjà vu.

But adversity is a forge. It is a necessary component to resolve a collection of individuals into a single team. And it also helps to define the distance between where a team is, and where it wants to be.

Dario Saric, despite arriving from Croatia to join the 76ers this season, has been playing like a veteran. But he was a little awestruck when facing his basketball idols: scoring just 4 points, shooting just 14.3 percent from the floor and going 0-3 from the three point line. For the evening, he played 18 minutes and added two assists and three rebounds.

Oct 6, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Dario Saric (9) in action against the Washington Wizards at Wells Fargo Center. The Washington Wizards 125-119. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Starstruck

Dario Saric had an off-night on October 6. Despite shooting over 60% from the floor and from three-point range, his shooting accuracy just disappeared on the night he faced up against his idol – Lebron James.
In the aftermath, he also added this insightful perspective:

“It’s hard to learn everything in one move,” said Saric, “but to see those guys, how they play, how All-Star people play, how the people who are one of the best in history of NBA, for me it’s big to play against them. But such experience, how [James] play easy, how they are champions team, they grow up together, they have like five players everybody cover everything. It’s hard to play against them.”

Losing to a champion, with a final score difference of just three points, does something to a young team. Virtually everyone expected them to fall onto their arses hard. But a three point loss after retaking the lead in the closing minutes? That was more akin to a snowflake landing on a white field.

The team lost the game. Likewise, the team suffered a poor showing from Saric. But topping the evening off was a 76ers team playing without Ben Simmons, Jahlil Okafor, Nik Stauskas, Nerlens Noel, Jerryd Bayless, Anthony Barber (Cat Barber), nor Brandon Paul, and never saw an appearance from Elton Brand. In the final box score, our 12 stood against their 15.

And the team lost by three points in the closing minute.

Oct 8, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) dunks the ball against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first half at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

These 76ers Believe They Belong

Whether it is the mind of a rookie stepping foot onto the basketball court to face NBA champions, a player returning from last year’s 10-72 tribulation, or a veteran unfamiliar with the Philadelphia 76ers, all flash with the question “What am I doing here?”.

This was particularly the case as the team entered the contest in Cleveland.

But on that night, Joel Embiid exploded in his 13 minutes for 12 points, including a three pointer. Richaun Holmes continues to leave nothing to chance, scoring 19 points on 77.8 percent shooting accuracy. Sergio Rodriguez stepped up with 15 points and 8 assists. Jerami Grant rounded out the double digit scoring, adding 13 points and 6 assists.

While the team had momentary lapses, there were moments of brilliant clarity. In the second quarter, the team rallied from a ten point deficit to take a six point lead.

On the evening after head coach Brett Brown placed the team fully upon Joel Embiid’s shoulders, Embiid responded. On an evening when the team needed players to step up, Rodriguez and Grant arrived. But most of all, in a game where slipping would be most understandable, Richaun Holmes continued to play with fire. Against the NBA Champions, they stood toe to toe.

It was the Cleveland Cavaliers who held the first pick of the 2014 NBA draft, a pick they opted away from Joel Embiid and towards Andrew Wiggins.

“I felt more comfortable,” Embiid said inside the visitors’ locker room at Quicken Loans Arena. “Especially, I’m still thinking about I should have been the number one pick, and they didn’t pick me, so that has something to do with it.”

Two years later, and Embiid has something to prove.

Oct 6, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Richaun Holmes (22) reacts to a score against the Washington Wizards during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Washington Wizards 125-119. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Same Path New Direction

It’s difficult to build teamwork, when 50 percent of the teams top six players are out of action. And so, the team has once more done no favors to head coach Brett Brown. While other basketball head coaches have a full cupboard of healthy available players and decide who will sit, Brown finds himself scrambling to assemble lineup depth that can play a full preseason game.

Brett Brown needs help anywhere he can get it.

Landing just three points shy of the Cavaliers just delivered that help. In that loss, the team saw that on an off night, against an elite team, they can compete.

The confidence meter just jumped.

With veterans who have been there, done that, this loss is just a loss. But to the first year rookies, or the 76ers veterans awaiting that first successful season, this one game just accelerated their development.

The team is beginning to believe. Belief and confidence organizes everything else about this team. Now the players can begin to win the battle in their minds and hearts. As they begin to feel good about themselves, changes will occur to accelerate that mood.

Embiid and Henderson’s minutes will increase. Players will return to health. The team will not always face the Cavaliers, and so will begin to win some games. The team is still on the same path, but the slope is increasing. To build a championship team, the team needs to get off the ground this season. In fact, they just did.