PHILADELPHIA — “Preparation, Process, Parade” is a mantra Doc Rivers has the 76ers focusing on this season.
“That’s the only things on our minds,” Dwight Howard said recently, “preparing every day, going through the process. Hopefully the end of the year, we’ll have a parade.”
But the Sixers know winning the title and having that end-of-season parade won’t come easy.
“We just got to go out every night and lock in on our goal, which is to dominate every game,” Howard said.
They’ll definitely have to play better than they did in Saturday night’s 112-109 overtime loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Wells Fargo Center.
Under the circumstances, this was the Sixers’ worst loss of the season. The Cavs (13-21) came into the contest minus six players on the regular roster, due to injuries and personal reasons.
“Thought the game, I thought we had one quarter with energy, the third quarter,” Rivers said. “Other than that, they basically got the shots they wanted all game. If they didn’t they got the offensive rebounds. They got the back cuts when they needed them.”
The Cavaliers executed their offense, while the Sixers had a tough time doing the same.
“I thought we played in random all game, which shows a lack of discipline,” Rivers said.
The setback dropped the Sixers to 22-12. They were a half-game ahead of the Brooklyn Nets atop the Eastern Conference standings heading into Saturday night.
“I think they heard the third part,” Rivers said before the game of his mantra, “but I’m more focused on the first two parts, because you have to do those two things first to get anywhere. I want our guys to hear that.”
All-Stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons are definitely listening.
Embiid is the front runner for the league MVP, while Simmons is a candidate for the defensive player of the year. They both had stellar games against the Cavaliers (12-22).
Embiid finished with 42 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. Ben Simmons had 21 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
Furkan Korkmaz started in place of Tobias Harris, who is sidelined with a bruised right knee. Harris is expected to be re-evaluated on Sunday.
As much as Harris means to the Sixers, the Cavaliers would have loved to play without just one key player.
Matthew Dellavedova (concussion), Andre Drummond (personal reasons, seeking a trade), Kevin Love (right calf strain), Larry Nance Jr. (left hand fracture), Taurean Prince (personal reasons), and Cedi Osman (lower back spasms) were all sidelined. Another player, Brodric Thomas, was on a NBA G-League assignment.
As a result, the Cavs dressed just nine players.
However, they went into the second quarter leading, 28-23, thanks to shooting 50% from the field. They extended their lead to 13 points (47-34) on Dean Wade’s 3-pointer with 6 minutes, 10 seconds left in the quarter.
Cleveland went on to take a 56-47 lead into the break. Things were so bad for the Sixers in the first half that Rivers could be heard yelling “wake up” during a second-quarter offensive possession.
At the half, Embiid had 21 points on 5-for-10 shooting and making 11 of 12 foul shots. Simmons added 12 points while making 6 of 10 shots. The rest of the Sixers, however, had 14 points on a combined 4-for-16 shooting.
The Sixers changed things up in the second half, starting Mike Scott in place of Korkmaz, who had two points (1-for-4) in the first half.
Philly scored the first six points of the half en route to going on a 18-9 run to knot the score at 65 on Shake Milton’s jumper with 3:16 left in the third quarter. The Sixers took their first lead of the second half (73-72) on Korkmaz’s 3-pointer 22 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Cavs rookie Lamar Stevens had three rebounds and a block in his first game against the Sixers in his hometown. The Philadelphia native was a standout at Roman Catholic and Penn State before going undrafted in November and signing a two-way contract with Cleveland.
