76ers Lose First NBA Cup Game Of Season On Terrible Shooting Night Against Cavaliers
Philadelphia 76ers' VJ Edgecombe (77) passes as Cleveland Cavaliers' Sam Merrill (5) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Cleveland, Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. AP Photo/Phil Long
It was not the Philadelphia 76ers’ night in the Land.
Two weeks after their thrilling matchup where the 76ers pulled off one of their biggest comebacks in franchise history, Philadelphia was set to do battle once again with the Cleveland Cavaliers, only this time as an NBA Cup game.
While the 76ers were able to come back from 29 points down to win, this game was almost the exact opposite, as Philadelphia trailed for essentially the entire game and put up one of their worst halves of the entire season in the second half, losing 119-95. It’s just the second loss of the season for the 76ers.
Overall, the shooting was just not there from Philadelphia all night, and especially in the second half, as the 76ers scored just 41 points total and shot 13-for-45 (28.9%) from the field in the final two quarters. As a team, they finished the game overall 31-for-85 (36%) from the field and 10-for-40 (25%) from three.
Jaylen Brown was the leading scorer for Philadelphia, finishing with 20 points, while Tyrese Maxey scored 17 and VJ Edgecombe added 19. The real culprit in the 76ers’ terrible shooting night was Joel Embiid, who didn’t make a single field goal all night, going 0-for-9. For Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell led the way with 23 points, while Evan Mobley added 22.
As the game tipped off, VJ Edgecombe was able to get Philadelphia on the board early with a dunk, but it took a bit for the 76ers to get another shot to fall, and for Cleveland, it was quite the opposite.
The entire Cavaliers team was on fire to open the game, as Donovan Mitchell drilled back-to-back-to-back shots for their first points, Evan Mobley scored five points, and James Harden added four, as it was 17-4 Cleveland when LeBron James hit the second field goal of the night for Philadelphia.
The 76ers eventually got to scoring, as Tyrese Maxey and Anfernee Simons both scored six points, but the Cavs’ shooters did not stop, as Meleek Thomas off the bench knocked down back-to-back triples, and Mitchell and Thomas Bryant added four points each.
While Jabari Walker was able to add two points on free throws just before the end of the first quarter, Philadelphia had dug themselves into a hole after 12 minutes, trailing 33-22.
Quarter two started rough for Philadelphia as well, as despite getting threes from Edgecombe and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, three points from Tyrese Proctor and back-to-back triples from Mario Hezonja brought it to a 16-point Cleveland lead.
However, like their previous matchups, the 76ers’ shots finally started to fall as Jaylen Brown began to get involved with four points and Edgecombe’s hot hand continued to heat up, as a fast-break dunk from the second-year guard capped off a 15-5 76ers run to cut the deficit to six.
Edgecombe didn’t stop there, as after four points from the Cavs, a corner three for his 15th points of the quarter cut it back to single digits, and a bucket from Brown and free throws from Joel Embiid all of a sudden made it a one-possession game.
With two minutes until the half, Mobley knocked down back-to-back shots, but was answered by a deep three from Brown. A moving screen from Dean Wade set up one last possession in the half for the Cavaliers, and Harden made the 76ers pay as he drilled a step-back three, making it 62-54 Cleveland.
Out of the break, Philadelphia finally got off to a good start, as two free throws from Embiid and five points from Maxey made it a three-point game. However, Cleveland finally woke up thanks to three points from Mitchell and back-to-back threes from Harden and Peyton Watson.
Back and forth, both teams went back and forth as the Cavaliers’ lead remained around seven points, but pull-up jumpers from Mitchell and Watson increased Cleveland’s lead back to double digits. From there, the Cavs just continued to put their foot on the gas as the 76ers failed to keep up with Cleveland’s offense.
Led by Mitchell, Cleveland went on a 13-2 run to go back up 22 heading into the fourth quarter, and the fourth was even worse for the 76ers. While Brown was able to get some shots down for Philadelphia, Cleveland continued to answer, mainly going down low to Mobley with Embiid out of the game.
As the fourth quarter began to wind down, Cleveland remained steadily ahead by 20 points, and Nick Nurse decided to wave the white flags, pulling his starters with under four minutes to play.
Both teams’ benches entered the game just trying to run out the clock, and when things were all said and done, Cleveland wrapped things up with a 119-95 victory.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has written and edited for the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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