Sixers have a lot at stake Thursday against a Cavs team they can’t seem to beat

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers have been the 76ers’ kryptonite.

The Sixers were expected to beat the struggling Cavs in their previous two meetings this season. Instead, they suffered bad losses to the NBA’s fifth-worst team.

Not only did the Cavs (17-30) win those two games, they have beaten the Sixers three straight times dating back to last season.

Now, the Sixers (32-15) have much more on the line than just pride in the teams’ third and final game of the season.

They need to keep pace with the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets (33-15) are a half game ahead of the second-place Sixers atop the Eastern Conference standings after Wednesday’s 120-108 victory over the Houston Rockets.

» READ MORE: Sixers no match for Denver Nuggets, fall into a tie for first place in the Eastern Conference

The game Thursday in Cleveland will also conclude the Sixers’ six-game road trip. A victory would make them 4-2 without their best player and MVP candidate, Joel Embiid, who will miss his 10th consecutive game with a left knee bone bruise. The Sixers expect Embiid to return for Saturday’s home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Sixers opened the trip with victories over the New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, and Los Angeles Lakers before losing to the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday and the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.

Going 4-2 instead of 3-3 would also highlight the transformation under new coach Doc Rivers.

A year ago, the Sixers were 10-24 in games in opponents’ arenas. They lost 10 of their final 11 road games before the pandemic shutdown.

This season, however, the Sixers are 13-11 on the road. Even that’s a bit misleading, considering they won six straight before losing to the Clippers and Nuggets.

Now, they’ll face the Cavs, losers of three straight and nine of their last 12.

“The problem is Cleveland has beaten up twice, and they’re going to have a ton of confidence, coming into the game,” Rivers said. “No matter what they’re doing, all they know is every time they’ve seen the Sixers they won. So we are going to have to come up with a better game plan against them. And we are going to have to play better.”

They’ll definitely have to do that.

Third-year guard Collin Sexton is averaging 25 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists against the Sixers this season. Second-year guard Darius Garland isn’t far behind, averaging 19.5 points, 8.0 assists, and 1.0 rebounds against the Sixers.

With those two leading the way, the Cavs posted a 118-94 home victory on Dec. 27 over a Sixers squad without Embiid. On Feb. 27 at the Well Fargo Center, Embiid had 42 points and 13 rebounds, but the Cavs prevailed, 112-109, in overtime.

Under the circumstances, that was the Sixers’ worst loss of the season. Cleveland entered without six players on the regular roster because of injuries and personal reasons.

Matthew Dellavedova (concussion), Andre Drummond (personal reasons), 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 an NBA G League assignment.

As a result, Cleveland dressed just nine players.

» READ MORE: Sixers made their foul shots, but that’s about it in their loss to Denver | Best/worst

It didn’t matter.

Sexton (28 points) and Garland (25) combined to burn the Sixers for 53 points. Cleveland outscored the Sixers, 62-42, in the paint and outrebounded them, 53-46.

“A win in Cleveland would be big for us, especially to finish the trip,” Tobias Harris. “We want to finish the trip out on top. We had a pretty good trip thus far. ... So we get to kind of redeem ourselves now dropping two straight. We need that win.”

Harris wants a win that the team can feel good about. He wants the Sixers to execute and play their style of basketball.

“It’s a mentality of on to the next one,” he said. “But at the same time, that’s an important game for us, and we need it.”