Sixers vs. Cleveland Cavs takeways: Embiid’s milestone, Reed’s defense, Harden’s play

Joel Embiid is already one of the 76ers’ all-time greats.

Paul Reed remains the team’s backup center — at least for now. And on Wednesday, James Harden played arguably his best half of basketball this season.

These three things stood out during the Sixers’ 118-112 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Wells Fargo Center.

It is hard to imagine another Sixer ever wearing Embiid’s No. 21 jersey again.

That’s because the six-time All-Star keeps accomplishing things that only Hall of Famers like Allen Iverson and Wilt Chamberlain have done in a Sixers uniform.

But he accomplished something Wednesday that even those two greats of the game didn’t do as Sixers.

Embiid surpassed 10,000 career points in just his 373rd game. In the process, he surpassed Iverson as the fastest Sixer ever to reach that mark. It took Iverson 378 games to reach the milestone, while Julius Erving was third at 425.

“I can only think that what if I didn’t miss all these games,” Embiid said, alluding to injury absences. “I guess it’s a good thing. But that’s not where the focus is. And I just focus about what I can do to help the team. And if it’s scoring a lot, passing, defensively, then I’m going to do it.”

Chamberlain needed just 236 games to reach the 10,000-point plateau as a Philadelphia Warrior. That’s the fewest amount of games needed to surpass the milestone in NBA history. The Sixers acquired the West Philadelphia native from the San Francisco Warriors on Jan. 15, 1965. Hall of Famer Michael Jordan is second to the mark at 303 games.

For the record, Wilt scored 7,651 points in his four years and 277 games with the Sixers.

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Embiid is the eighth active center to have scored 10,000 points. He has played 100 fewer games than anyone else on the list.

Embiid has 10,024 points after finishing with 29 points along with 14 rebounds against the Cavs. The seventh-year veteran also moved past Caldwell Jones for third on the Sixers all-time defensive rebounds list with 3,345. Jones had 3,339.

Sixers coach Doc Rivers has learned in his three seasons in Philly that Embiid is better than he expected.

“And I thought he was really good,” Rivers said. “I had no idea. You know, being in the West, you only saw him twice. He is so much better in almost everything than even I thought. And he’s so much smarter, too. That’s what you don’t know when you don’t coach a guy like his brain.

“He’s powerful. He’s quick. He can be deliberate.”

» READ MORE: Sixers build big lead, then hold off Cavaliers’ comeback in 118-112 win

Reed may make it hard for the Sixers to take him out of the rotation.

This marked his fourth consecutive game as the Sixers’ backup center. And he’s providing the defensive presence the team struggled to provide previously when Embiid was off the floor.

Reed blocked two shots to go with five points and four rebounds in 9 minutes, 27 seconds. This comes after he had six points, three blocks, and two steals in Monday’s 123-104 victory over the Houston Rockets. The Sixers signed Dewayne Dedmon on Tuesday to provide more of that defensive presence. The 10th-year veteran didn’t play on Wednesday.

“He’s doing what we need him to do,” Embiid said of Reed, “playing hard, being active offensively and defensively. Offensively, setting screens and getting us extra possessions. Defensively, try to be as aggressive as possible.

“Obviously, he has to stop fouling, stop being a hack. But, nah, you can see the last few games he’s been one of the reasons why [we’ve] been able to get these leads and keep them.”

Both of Reed’s blocks on Wednesday came in the first half. In the second half, he hurt the Sixers a bit by reaching a little too much. But overall, his body of work has been solid in the past four games.

“I’m just trying to win,” Reed said. “I’m trying to help the team win. Do whatever I can to help the team win, that’s what I’m trying to do. For right now, it’s playing defense and setting screens and rolling hard [to the basket].

“Doc knows I’m a great defender and he expects me to go out there and play great defense. So that’s what I do.”

The Sixers’ point guard finished with 19 points and 12 assists for his 26th double-double of the season. He did a lot of his damage while the Sixers were rolling in the first half. That’s when Harden had 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting along with nine assists, one steal and a block. He was a plus-27 in 19:08.

The Sixers are at their best when Harden looks to distribute the ball instead of looking for his own shot.

He did that plenty at the start, assisting on baskets to Tobias Harris and Embiid to give the Sixers a 5-2 lead. Then he scored the Sixers’ third basket, a 24-foot three-pointer, to put the team up, 10-6. Harden finished the first quarter with eight points and eight assists. When he was subbed out with 2:04 left, he had a hand in 26 of the Sixers’ 33 points (78.8%).

Harden missed his three shot attempts in the second half.

» READ MORE: Can Dewayne Dedmon solve the Sixers’ dilemma behind Joel Embiid?

Best performance: This goes to Donovan Mitchell in a losing effort. The Cavs shooting guard finished with a game-high 33 points. He scored 25 in the second half on 8-for-13 shooting. He made 7 of 8 foul shots iafter intermission.

Worst performance: I had to give this to Jalen McDaniels..The Sixers forward had his worst game as a Sixers. He scored four points in on 2-for-6 shooting and had a tough time keeping the Cavs players in front of him.

Best defensive performance: This goes to Tobias Harris, who did a solid job defending. while recording two steals.

Worst statistics: This goes to the Sixers committing nine second-half turnovers, leading to 20 Cleveland points.

Best statistics: This goes to the Sixers making 27 of 29 foul shots.