The Philadelphia 76ers have a busy November with 14 total games on the month’s schedule. On Wednesday evening, they’ll visit the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second leg of a back-to-back — their first of three this month.
The Sixers are coming off a horrendous loss to the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night. After leading by as much as 19 late in the third period, Philadelphia’s offense completely stagnated. Failing to hit a single field goal in the last 6:26 of the game and scoring just two points in that time from the free throw line, the Sixers allowed the Bulls to come all the way back and take their first lead of the game with three seconds to play — it was the only lead that mattered. The Sixers fell 113-111.
And there’s no rest for the weary this month. This being a back-to-back, it would make the most sense to expect Joel Embiid to be unavailable tonight for injury management. Embiid played 25:33 in the Sixers’ Tuesday contest, and it was a mixed bag for sure. The big fella looked pretty damn good in the first half — arguably the most agile and comfortable he’s looked to start this season. The second half… not so great offensively, shooting just 1-for-10 from the floor for just two points and relying way too heavily on isolation ball down the stretch.
The loss was a far cry from falling solely on the shoulders of Embiid. The second half, especially the final frame, was a complete team failure, from head coach Nick Nurse’s decisions to the players on the floor not performing at all to close it out.
Tuesday’s contest also featured the return of Sixers’ 2024 No. 16 overall pick Jared McCain. It was his first contest since Dec. 13, 2024, when his rookie season was cut short due to a meniscus tear. Just before the start of this season, McCain was forced to delay his return to game action after suffering a UCL tear in his thumb at a team workout.
McCain didn’t score against the Bulls, going 0-for-4 from the floor with a rebound and two assists in 15 minutes. He was clearly (and understandably) catching up a bit on conditioning and getting back to game speed, which one could imagine might take a few contests after nearly a year away. A back-to-back might be a lot to ask of him in his first days back, but we will keep you posted on the game status for McCain and the rest of the squad when it becomes available.
The Cavaliers, by comparison, are not coming into this one on a back-to-back. In fact, they have enjoyed two days rest since their last contest — a 117-109 win over the Atlanta Hawks this past Sunday.
Donovan Mitchell leads the Cavs as the seventh-highest scorer at the time of writing to start this season, averaging 29.5 points on 55.0% field goal shooting and 43.6% shooting from long range in six games. He has scored +35 points in three of those contests.
The only break the Sixers might catch in this one is that the injury bug has a possibility of affecting the Cavaliers in a big way. Jarrett Allen (finger), averaging 14.0 points and 7.0 rebounds across four games, is questionable. Sam Merrill (hip), averaging 17.3 points on 51.4% long range shooting in four games so far this season, is also questionable.
On the flip side, the Sixers may suffer from the possible return of Darius Garland (toe), who has been upgraded to questionable for Wednesday. Garland has been sidelined so far this season as he recovers from a surgery performed on his big toe following an All-Star season averaging 20.6 points per game in 2024-25.
Max Strus (foot) remains out for Cleveland as he continues to recover from foot surgery.
This is going to be a tough one for Philadelphia, especially on a back-to-back coming off a truly demoralizing loss. Frankly, it was going to be a hard one even if they had held on to win last night. The Cavaliers are returning to full strength as the Sixers are coming back down to earth a bit after a 4-0 start to the season. This one could get ugly…
The Sixers and Cavaliers tip off at 7 p.m. ET.
When: Wednesday, November 5, 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Rocket Arena, Cleveland, OH
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
Follow: @LibertyBallers
