Donovan Mitchell ran the whole thing: 23 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds. Cleveland hit 45.5% from the floor and made 13 of 37 from 3, which is solid, not spectacular. It didn't need to be spectacular. The Cavs also lost Sam Merrill to an elbow injury during the game and still never let the lead get uncomfortable.
Philadelphia's offense was the bigger story. The Sixers shot 31-of-85 (36.5%) and 10-of-40 from 3, a 25% night that buried them. LeBron James and Joel Embiid both struggled, and it showed on the scoreboard. Jaylen Brown led Philly with 20 and VJ Edgecombe added 19, but nobody else gave them enough to keep up.
Cleveland set the tone early. It went up 33-22 after 1 quarter, and the 2nd was Philly's only good stretch, a 32-29 quarter that cut the halftime gap to 62-54. Then the Cavs won the 3rd 29-20 to go up 91-74, and the 4th was just running out the clock. For a team that kept letting opponents back into games late, this one never got close enough for that to come up.
The injury reports tell a different story than the score does. Cleveland was down Allen and Jaylon Tyson before tipoff and lost Merrill during the game. Philly was down Adem Bona, Ariel Hukporti and Dominick Barlow, which left no real backup at center behind an Embiid on restricted minutes. Cleveland's absences looked worse on paper, but Philly's hurt more, because the one spot it couldn't cover was the one Cleveland attacked all night on the boards.
This was an Emirates NBA Cup group game, so it counts for a little more than a normal November night. Philadelphia drops to 8-2, and its 4-game run ends with its first blowout loss. Cleveland gets back to 5-4 after being swept by Oklahoma City in a 2-game set. More important for the Cavs, they now know Mitchell and Mobley can carry the load with Allen out.
