Recap: 76ers 115, Cavs 114 (or, it’s time to find an anagram)

I’m not gonna lie, I was dreading this recap. We knew a few days ago that LeBron James would be inactive along with Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, and Iman Shumpert. An hour before tipoff, Dave McMenamin tweeted that Timofey Mozgov, and J.R. Smith would also be shelved. Including holdout Tristan Thompson, the Cavs would be without their top seven players. The anticipation of the chore of watching two hours of terrible basketball weighted on me all day, and then having to write about it felt like punishment fitting of a former executive at MCI. My pity parade subsided when I started thinking that there’s probably some kid in Philly,  who is a Cavs fan, and going to this miserable game is his birthday present. To my surprise, it was a shockingly entertaining game.

To change things up, I’m going to do the recap with nine “Yays” and nine “Boos” in honor of the man of the night, Jared Cunningham.

BOO

9. Anderson Varejao was terrible on defense. His rotations were late, and he failed to box out Robert Covington, who grabbed his own off balance rebound for the put back. Hopefully, Andy’s lateral agility will improve as he works his way back into game shape.

8. I’m off the grid on a lot of things. Sometimes it’s to avoid a fad, but often, it just didn’t happen. I watched Rocky for the first time a week ago. I had seen Rocky III years back, and chalked up the series to just being a money making propaganda machine. I found Rocky entertaining enough that I don’t regret watching it, but I highly doubt I’ll ever see it again. I wasn’t let down by the plot itself, just how they told it. The dialogue was terrible. Rocky and Adrian were “Save the Cat” overly sympathetic. Paulie and Mickey seemed like they were cut out of a prohibition era comic book their characterization was so generic. How in Hades did Rocky beat Taxi Driver for Best Picture?

7. Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor don’t fit together at all. I get that 76ers GM Sam Hinkie is just grabbing as many oysters as he can and hoping there’s a pearl in one , but fit matters. Of the two I’d rather have Noel. Him playing at the four pulls him away from the basket too much to defend the paint to his potential, which is kind of why you’d want to have him in the first place.

6. If the 2015-16 Cleveland Cavs are the “Dream Team,” than Joe Harris is Christian Laettner. Joe had less than a second to get off a game winner at the end of regulation, and despite a hard double team, refused to shoot. He instead passed and the clock expired. Laettner had the stones to take a shot there – probably would have knocked it down, too.

5.

https://twitter.com/CoryHughey/status/652345787473612800

4. Quinn Cook had a game low minus-16 in his 15 minutes of playing time. It was fun while it lasted.

3.  I seriously feel for the Philly faithful. Their season tickets holders are approaching the biblical Job level for tests of faith and abuse.

How long will it take for Sixers fans to realize they're being conned? Six years?

— HoopsDogg (@oldseaminer) October 9, 2015

2.  The Cavs turned the ball over 22 times, and committed 34 fouls, which sent the 76ers to the line 41 times. I’m not losing sleep over it considering just about the entire playoff rotation was idle, but the Cavs deserved to lose.

1.  DJ Stephens didn’t fight through the weak pick by Okafor and Joe Harris was late collapsing on Scottie Wilbekin’s game winner. Stephens is fighting for a roster spot. Guys get cut over lapses in effort like that. When you’re up by two, you always overplay the the three point line.

https://youtu.be/1WpHRxwSY_0

0. The Officiating: how do you miss a three point call badly and then not review it? A Sixer shot the ball from just inside the left corner college three line late in the third (a good 10 inches in front of the NBA line) and it was never reviewed. The officials, in some hideous new uniforms, also missed a clear goaltend on a Delly drive. Those two errors gave the Sixers the game.

YAY

9.  Sasha Kaun bullied Okafor in the paint. He posted a game high plus-16. He also flashed great court vision and touch, hitting Delly on a backdoor cut for a layup.

8. Delly gonna Delly. He scored 13 points on 10 shots, had a team high five assists, and played with his usual muskrat fever defense in a meaningless game. My favorite play of his was when he overpowered Noel for a loose ball.

7. LeBron for making the trip. For many away fans, these preseason games are the only way they can probably see the stars in person. He could have easily retreated to his Bath Township Xanadu and hosted a dodo roast—I’ve long suspected the uber wealthy of having a private stock of extinct animals and gorging on them at lavish parties.

6.  Richard Jefferson still has it. During the second quarter, Jefferson reached down into his old man at the Y colostomy bag of tricks, with a subtle head fake and drive for the reverse layup. He’s a card carrying member of the underated/overrated teeter-totter club, but I think he’s underrated at the moment.

5.  Austin Daye for stuffing the stat sheet even though he couldn’t find his shot. Daye contributed nine boards, four dimes, and a pair of blocks. I know he’s fundamentally flawed, but it’s easy to get distracted by the potential he could have. Joe Harris can’t be a lock to make the team right?

4.  DJ Stephens had another nice outing with the exception to Wilbekin’s game winner. His athleticism makes me want to believe he could be Gerald Green. Joe Harris can’t be a lock to make the team right?

3.  To Allen Iverson for being the Kevin Nash of the NBA, and being the worst face of the league ever. It’s amazing how far the league has come in a decade.

2.  Anderson Varejao was stellar on the offensive end. The action ran through him, and he was even spry enough to beat Noel off the dribble for a reverse layup.

I for one am enjoying Point Anderson Varejao.

— Kevin Pelton (@kpelton) October 8, 2015

1.  Jared Cunningham was the star of the starless show. He put up 31 points on just 10 shots from the field. He routinely beat his man off of the dribble, and drew contact at the rim to the tune of 16 free throw attempts. He had chemistry with Varejao on the pick and pop. He drilled two of his three triples. He did what we all dreamed Saint Weirdo would do. Considering Kyrie and Shumpert’s current recoveries, he seems like a lock to get the last roster spot. It’s time to find an anagram for Jared Cunningham.

https://youtu.be/XyuyhXxMgIw?t=5s