Cavaliers couldn’t contain Joel Embiid, lose to the 76ers on the road

Cleveland Cavaliers ran into a brick wall

The Cleveland Cavaliers had their winning streak snapped at four games after losing to the Philadelphia 76ers on the road, 120-103. Despite the return of floor general Darius Garland, the Cavs could not keep up with the Joel Embiid-led title aspirants.

Cleveland had little answer to the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award frontrunner Embiid, who erupted for a monster triple-double of 40 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists. But the now five-time All-Star’s most memorable play of the night came via a massive poster jam over Jarrett Allen in the first half.

Trailing for nearly the entire night, the already road-weary young squad kept pushing and managed to eventually catch up briefly in the third period, but the Sixers once again pulled away and even extended the lead to as much as 18 points in the final quarter.

Garland, the Cavaliers’ upcoming first-time All-Star, led the team with 27 points in his return from resting an ailing back. Meanwhile, Allen added 13 points to join six Cavs players who finished in double-figures as the team fell in the second night of a back-to-back.

The Cavs stay busy ahead of All-Star Weekend

While the Cavs would presumably want to enter the All-Star Weekend with a win to shake this loss off, it might be wise for the team to just rest Darius Garland in their upcoming bout against the Atlanta Hawks.

Since Garland is presumed to play in his impending debut appearance in the All-Star Game at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on the 20th, there would be little rest for the Cavs’ 22-year-old floor general, who can’t seem to find a remedy for his bothersome back.

Not only will he play in the Sunday night main event, but Garland is also tabbed to represent the Cavaliers by joining Allen and rookie Evan Mobley in the Skills Challenge. Overworking the visibly ailing young guard might only hurt the team’s chances at a potentially long postseason run.

With the defeat, the Cleveland Cavaliers fell to a 35-22 record, back to third place in the suffocatingly tight Eastern Conference. They will make one final stop in Atlanta on the 15th before returning home for the All-Star Weekend.