PHILADELPHIA — The Cavs won the battle Wednesday night. The war is still to be determined.
Cleveland beat the surprising 76ers, 133-107, inside Xfinity Mobile Arena — a result that could end up being a mere footnote.
With 4:08 remaining in the third quarter and the Cavs ahead by double figures, point guard Darius Garland lost the ball, crumbled the floor and remained down while Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey sprinted the other way for a soaring dunk.
As the Cavs signaled for timeout, concerned teammates gathered around Garland who was writhing in pain and holding his right foot. He eventually got up and limped to the bench. With a towel over his head, Garland received a brief examination from head trainer Steve Spiro before exiting to the locker room.
Garland didn’t return, ruled out for the remainder of the game with a right foot injury.
The organization is left holding its breath — again.
Garland, who underwent offseason surgery on his big toe on the opposite foot and missed the first few weeks of the regular season while recovering, was finally starting to regain his pre-injury form.
Wednesday night was a continuation of that.
Garland tallied 20 points on 8 of 13 shooting and 3 of 7 from 3-point range to go with seven assists in 23 minutes before departing. He moved into ninth place on the franchise all-time scoring list, surpassing 2016 NBA champion Kevin Love.
With Garland unavailable for the final 16 minutes, and sharpshooting reserve Sam Merrill also in the locker room because of a right hand injury suffered in the first half, star guard Donovan Mitchell spearheaded the offense.
“He’s a fighter,” Donovan Mitchell said of Garland. “It’s one of those things where you see that and you have to go from concern to like, OK, time to kind of go into go-mode because it was an 11-point game at the time. The other team might see that and be like, here we go. He was hooping, getting downhill, creating, setting the tone. Obviously, there’s concern always. That’s my brother. But it was like, alright, let’s continue to be aggressive and respond back. We did that as a group.”
Mitchell finished with a game-high 35 points, including 27 during a takeover second half. With him on the floor, the Cavs were a plus-29 in 33 minutes.
“This was great — both ends of the floor,” Mitchell said. “That’s a really good team over there. But we have to do it again on Friday. It’s kind of like a playoff vibe. Win Game 1 on the road and then have to win Game 2. We have to be ready and continue to do what we do.”
Evan Mobley added 17 points and 13 rebounds. Embattled reserve De’Andre Hunter, back in his hometown and fueled by a Tuesday night cheesesteak from Dalessandro’s, tallied 17 points as well — the most he has scored since Dec. 22.
“It always feels good,” Hunter said of playing in Philadelphia. “I always have a lot of people here and I know a lot of people here even if they’re not here for me. It was my first time playing here in two years, so I just wanted to come out here and have fun. I felt some love in the air.”
Jarrett Allen (10 points) and Jaylon Tyson (12), who was inserted into the starting lineup Wednesday mostly for his size and defensive acumen, also hit the double-digit scoring mark.
The Cavs, who led by as much as 30, shot 52.6% from the field and 43.5% from beyond the arc. They dished out a season-high 41 assists on 50 made shots. The 41 helpers are four shy of matching their all-time record.
Philadelphia, which entered the game fourth in the Eastern Conference, got 20 points from Joel Embiid. Point guard Tyrese Maxey, one of the league’s leading scorers, was held to just 14.
It’s been an unpredictable season for the Cavs.
Coach Kenny Atkinson likes to say it’s the psychology of sports.
Two nights earlier, Cleveland was recapping one of its worst losses of the season to the tanking Utah Jazz.
It felt like the season could start teetering again with another setback Wednesday night. But the Cavs responded to that embarrassment with a beatdown against a playoff-caliber opponent.
“Shows the character of our team,” Atkinson said. “I challenged them before the game. How are we going to respond. It wasn’t just the win but how we played. It was Cavs basketball.”
They made their first four shots and eight of their first 13, assisting on seven of those. By the end of a surgical first quarter, Cleveland had a 15-point lead — 33-18.
The Sixers got as close as six in the second quarter. But Cleveland finished with a 7-0 run to rebuild the advantage to 13 going into the halftime locker room.
The Cavs then opened the second half on a 15-6 burst, going in front by a then-game-high 22 and causing the ruthless Philadelphia fans, probably still peeved at the Eagles loss over the weekend, to start booing the home team.
The Cleveland lead was 18 going into the fourth quarter. It is now 16-1 this season when leading after three quarters.
A championship-level response. A complete game. Nearly 48 minutes of excellence.
The only thing that might put a damper on it is Garland’s latest injury scare.
“I don’t think it’s great for next game,” Atkinson said. “But I can’t tell you what it looks like longer term.”
Up next
The Cavs will stay in Philadelphia for a second straight matchup with the 76ers on Friday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
