Immediate Observations: Jared McCain leads a valiant effort, but the Sixers fall to the undefeated Cavaliers

After a loss to the New York Knicks in Joel Embiid’s season debut on Tuesday night, the Sixers returned to their home stadium on Wednesday for the second leg of the team’s first back-to-back schedule of the 2024-25 season.

Nothing would come easy for the 2-8 Sixers. With Embiid and Paul George sidelined as the team dealt with left knee problems – and Andre Drummond out due to illness – the extremely undermanned Sixers welcomed a 12-0 Cleveland Cavaliers team to town.

Against the only undefeated team in the NBA, the Sixers did anything but submit. Led by rookie Jared McCain, they showed tremendous courage. Unfortunately, McCain’s continued heroics and the Sixers’ fortitude still resulted in a defeat like no other, as they ran out of gas in the final frame. Here’s what stood out in the Sixers’ 114-106 loss:

Nick Nurse provides pregame updates on Embiid and George

The Sixers head coach stated before Wednesday night’s game that both Embiid and George responded well to the previous night’s game and that their absences against the Cavaliers were merely part of their respective long-term plans. He confirmed that both Embiid and George will be back in action Friday night as the Sixers begin a three-game road trip.

Perhaps the most encouraging part of Nurse’s update was that George will no longer have minute limits or limitations upon his return on Friday.

McCain gets his first NBA start; Guerschon Yabusele gets his first start as a Sixer

With George and Tyrese Maxey out and a new face needing to be added to the starting lineup on the sideline, McCain was the obvious choice. The rookie has had an absolutely outstanding three-game stretch heading into this game, averaging 22.5 points per game on an excellent 60.9 true shooting percentage in games against the Los Angeles Lakers, Charlotte Hornets and Knicks.

McCain quickly became the focal point of the Sixers’ offense whenever he entered these games, whether as an on-ball scorer or off-ball shooter. The Sixers were desperate for an offensive boost, George and Embiid joined Maxey on the injury report, McCain was their best choice.

With Drummond also unavailable behind Embiid, Yabusele was the only real option to start at center. Yabusele’s continued rise through the five-man lineup has been one of the most positive and unexpected developments of the season so far – his ability to be used as a small-ball center had barely been considered when Embiid’s extended absence early in the season forced Yabusele into the role.

Nurse indicated before the game that the team would spend parts of the game playing short-handed against a huge Cleveland frontcourt, but also hinted that rookie center Adem Bona would be in line to see some minutes.

McCain and Kelly Oubre Jr. take on the early offensive load while the makeshift defense holds up

Anyone who assumed that the undermanned Sixers would immediately be dominated by the undefeated Cavaliers quickly proved wrong. The Sixers actually outscored Cleveland for much of the first frame, with McCain and Oubre leading the way.

Of course, Nurse’s offense was limited in terms of the shots she could create without it three All-Stars available. It quickly became clear that their goal was to win the game with shooting variety – and that meant making plenty of three-point attempts and hoping to pull off an upset win on a hot night.

McCain made two three-pointers in the first quarter – including the team’s first basket – but struggled to get the ball inside the arc despite some nifty maneuvers inside. Oubre hit an early three-pointer and had two home-made two-point baskets to give the Sixers some offensive stability. The start of the year was difficult for Oubre offensively. If the Sixers are missing several stars, they will view him as someone whose offensive role can be scaled up.

Bona and Reggie Jackson step forward

Thanks to an impressive, balanced scoring attack, Cleveland took a four-point lead in the second quarter. But the Sixers mounted a strong counterattack in the second quarter from lineups with four reserves. In the middle was Bona, who played seven minutes, made his only shot attempt and grabbed five rebounds. It was Bona’s first extended playing time at the start of a game and he didn’t look unsettled or out of place.

Two-way point guard Jeff Dowtin Jr. missed all three of his shots in the first quarter after struggling against New York. So Nurse returned to veteran Jackson in hopes of finding an offensive spark – and that’s exactly what Jackson gave the team, scoring eight points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field in seven minutes of play:

The Sixers outscored Cleveland by nine points in Jackson’s seven minutes of play in the second quarter, a huge surge at the perfect time.

The Sixers lead 54:48 at the break

The Sixers had several quality offensive players in the first half. McCain stole the show again with 16 points and five assists in 17 minutes and hit two more triples in the second quarter. Oubre reached double figures before halftime and Jackson’s eight points were crucial.

But the Sixers’ team defense was incredibly impressive at halftime. The Cavaliers came into this contest with clearly the best offense in the NBA to date, and the Sixers were able to calm down a strong group of contributors. Superstar lead guard Donovan Mitchell made just two of his nine shot attempts in the first half, rising star Evan Mobley made just one of his three field goal attempts and bench spark plug Caris LeVert missed just 2 of 6 from the floor.

Cleveland continued to do an excellent job of ball management in the 2024-25 season and the Sixers were able to create turnovers. McCain and Caleb Martin each had two steals in the first half.

Speaking of Martin, the hard-nosed winger seems to be finding a rhythm as a scorer that is helping the Sixers thrive on offense. Martin scored 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the field against New York and totaled 11 points on 5 of 7 shooting in the first half against Cleveland.

The Cavaliers opened the second half with a strong push

It was only a matter of time before a team this good with such a productive offense would get going, and perhaps new head coach Kenny Atkinson gave the Cavaliers players the pep talk they needed at halftime. Cleveland opened the third quarter with a 12-5 run in about three and a half minutes to retake the lead and force Nurse to call a timeout. Cleveland extended its lead to a game-high six points, but another flurry from McCain – and the Cavaliers’ protracted problems from beyond the arc – prevented them from greatly increasing their lead.

Eventually, Cleveland made two three-pointers – including one from old friend Georges Niang – to gain some breathing room late in the third quarter, but two free throws from Eric Gordon and a putback layup from Oubre tied the game four get into the final frame.

The three-point regression hits Kyle Lowry hard

The 38-year-old floor general had an absurd start to the season as a long-range shooter, knocking down 60 percent of his three-point attempts in the Sixers’ first six games of the season. Of course, this clip never lasted and the inevitable regression hit Lowry like a blow:

Lowry made just two of his 11 three-point attempts in the following three games entering this game and was unable to buy a shot against Cleveland. Nurse has spoken at length about how Lowry’s ideal role this season is that he can be quickly removed from the game when the game is clearly not suited to him – which is becoming increasingly common given his declining athleticism. However, with Maxey and George out, Nurse can only keep Lowry on the bench for so long.

However, Nurse had a good feeling about Jackson after his first-half outburst and gave Lowry a quick play in the third quarter, hoping to get Jackson back on track.

The Sixers refuse to leave and McCain takes charge again

Time and time again, McCain exceeds expectations – even as those expectations grow and his ranking on the scouting report rises.

Cleveland used its star defender, Isaac Okoro, to defend McCain. The Duke product should handle an offensive load far greater than any player should ever have to in his 11th professional campaign. By the start of the fourth quarter, Cleveland had begun to take McCain out of pick-and-rolls.

And all he did was find ways to avoid any coverage. He did it from beyond the arc, he did it from the midfield area and on a few occasions he converted around the rim. What McCain is doing is not normal:

To tear an elite NBA team apart like that early in your own career is almost unimaginable.

The Sixers narrowly fail in the final moments

Mitchell made some great plays down the stretch, and the Cavaliers simply had too much of a talent gap on their side for the Sixers to overcome. After all of McCain’s brilliant plays and reasons to be optimistic about the Sixers’ performance against the NBA’s best players so far in 2024-25… the Sixers are 2-9.

Next: The Sixers will embark on a three-game road trip, starting with two games in Florida: They face the Orlando Magic on Friday night before facing the Miami Heat on Monday. They then travel to Memphis for their second game of the season against the Grizzlies before returning home.

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