Joel Embiid’s 44 points anchor Sixers’ comeback win at Cleveland Cavaliers | Analysis

CLEVELAND — Joel Embiid immediately recomposed himself, collecting the airborne ball after the Cavaliers’ Lamar Stevens blocked his dunk attempt. Then, the 76ers’ All-Star big man converted the layup through contact and pumped his arm in celebration.

That and-one finish gave the Sixers a two-possession lead in the waning minutes of Sunday’s game at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. And on a night the Sixers’ MVP candidate was initially listed as questionable to play with ankle soreness, Embiid’s latest masterpiece of 44 points, 17 rebounds, and 5 blocks — including altering Cleveland All-Star Darius Garland’s potential go-ahead shot at the rim with 15.2 seconds to play — kept his team afloat during a clunky first half and pushed them across the finish line of a 112-108 victory.

“[In] the fourth quarter, it’s time to deliver,” Embiid said of his final period when he totaled 13 points, 5 rebounds, and that one crucial rejection. “They all look up to me, and I’ve got to figure it out. I’ve got to make things happen, whether it’s offensively or defensively.

“So when you get to that point, it’s like, ‘Well, I’ve got to focus even more than I have the whole game.’”

The comeback win helped the Sixers (48-30) officially clinch a top-6 playoff spot and keep pace in a competitive top of the Eastern Conference standings. They remained in fourth place but now have the same record as the third-place Bucks (who clinched the 2-1 series tiebreaker with last week’s win in Philly), and are a half-game behind the second-place Boston Celtics (49-30) and 2½ back of the first-place Miami Heat (51-28).

“That’s the assumption,” coach Doc Rivers said of reaching the postseason. “But you’ve got to do these steps to get to where you want to go. The first step is getting in. We’re in now. The second step is whoever we play, and being ready for that.”

The Sixers needed to overcome a 12-point first-half deficit to complete the 4-0 regular-season sweep of the Cavaliers (43-36), a potential first-round opponent.

They initially closed the gap when a three-pointer by James Harden and an old-fashioned three-point play from Tyrese Maxey tied the score at 63 with about eight minutes to play in the third. Both teams went back and forth until Embiid’s and-one gave the Sixers a two-possession lead at 101-97, before Harden drew a foul and hit both free throws to increase that advantage to six points with less than three minutes to play.

Then, after Embiid’s block on Garland and a pair of Harden free throws, the star big man raised his arms to signal victory as Matisse Thybulle poked the ball away for a steal and got it to Tobias Harris for a breakaway dunk to put the Sixers up 111-106 with 7.2 seconds remaining.

Embiid, whose performance Sunday moved him into second place in the NBA in scoring at 30.2 points per game, feasted on a Cavaliers frontcourt that was missing All-Star big man Jarrett Allen and NBA rookie of the year contender Evan Mobley.

Harden pulled up from three as the first-half clock ticked down, held his follow-through as the ball bounced off the rim and then started walking toward the Sixers’ locker room.

Harden finished the night with his 11th triple-double of the season and second with the Sixers: 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. But he went 4-of-13 from the field. He entered Sunday shooting 36.6% from the floor, including 30% from beyond the arc, in his previous 13 games, and his outing against the Cavaliers will not help those numbers.

“I had some open looks that didn’t go down, but I think just trying to do a little bit of everything to help my team win,” Harden said. “Second half, I played a little bit better. But [I’m] just trying to be a distributor, help rebound, and just be solid on both ends of the floor.”

Harden went 1-of-9 from the floor in the first half, but did generate 10 points by making 7 of his 8 free-throw attempts. He finally got another shot to fall in the third when he took a punch pass from Embiid for a three-pointer from the left wing. A driving layup early in the fourth put the Sixers up, 85-80. His driving floater with about a minute to play gave his team a 107-104 lead.

When asked if he can identify something mechanically off with his shot recently, Harden said, “I just got to just stick the landing. I think I’m just coming out of my shot a little bit too early. It’s pretty simple.”

The Sixers’ first-half numbers were an eyesore.

They shot 30.8% from the floor, and allowed the Cavaliers to make more than half of their field goals (20 of 39) and three-point attempts (9 of 17). They committed nine turnovers that the Cavaliers parlayed into 10 points. Maxey played only eight minutes because of foul trouble and Harden and Harris were a combined 2-of-14 from the floor.

Those miscues helped the Cavaliers build a 12-point lead when Stevens converted a difficult and-one finish early in the second quarter. But Embiid’s 13 points in the period on 3-of-5 shooting — including a three-pointer at the 3-minute, 35-second mark — and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line helped the Sixers close the gap to 55-49 at the break.

“We had great shots in the first half, [and] nothing was falling,” Rivers said. “I said, ‘Guys, this is the game of basketball. Yesterday [in a 144-114 win against Charlotte], we couldn’t miss. Tonight, we can’t make, but you still have to find a way to win the game.

“I thought we just hung in there. The fact that we were only down what we were down at halftime was a miracle. But we’ve got guys that get fouled. They drive and they attack and they get fouled, so that kept us in the game.”

After picking up three quick fouls, Maxey was not much of a factor in eight first-half minutes. But after the break, the second-year guard quickly reminded why he is so important to the Sixers. He scored 8 of his 11 points in the third to help the Sixers make their initial charge.

His and-one layup tied the game at 63 with about eight minutes to play in the third. Then, he collected a steal and dished a pass ahead to Harris for a dunk that evened the score at 65. Another Maxey bucket on the Sixers’ next possession gave the Sixers a two-point advantage. Then, he answered a three-pointer by Rajon Rondo — a veteran Maxey trains with in the offseason — with his own shot from beyond the arc to put the Sixers up 81-80 heading to the final period.

Maxey’s first-half absence threw off the Sixers’ rotation, and led to some interesting lineup combinations. They closed the first quarter with Harden, Shake Milton, Danny Green, Georges Niang, and DeAndre Jordan. They then started the second quarter with Harden, Green, Harris, Jordan, and Furkan Korkmaz.