Jared McCain drops 34 as Sixers drop hard-fought game against undefeated Cavs

Another game, another career-high for Jared McCain.

The Sixers threatened but were unable to hand the Cleveland Cavaliers their first loss of the season as they fell 114-106 on Wednesday.

In addition to the Big 3 missing this game due to injury, the Sixers were also without Andre Drummond, who suffered an illness today.

In their absence, McCain carried the offense to a new career high, finishing with 34 points and 10 assists. He shot 12-of-26 from the field and 6-of-13 from three. Kelly Oubre Jr. finished with 20, while Caleb Martin had 18. Darius Garland led Cleveland in scoring with 25.

Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.

First quarter

• Not surprisingly, the Sixers struggled to generate shots inside the three-point line. Eight of their first 11 shots of the game were from behind the arc. They swung the ball around enough to get some open looks, and made enough of those threes to keep up with the Cavs, who weren’t off to the hottest start themselves.
• A big reason is that the Sixers got some solid wing play in the quarter. Caleb Martin’s disruptiveness on defense seems to have really stepped up in the last week or so. He had two steals early. Both him and Kelly Oubre Jr. each knocked down a three, which has been a rare sight, and Oubre finally got some runners down as well.

• Because as good as Guerschon Yabusele has been, there just isn’t much he can offer in the way of rim protection. That meant Adem Bona had to play tonight and he was OK in his first few minutes out there. The Cavs still got to the basket relatively easily, but somehow Bona played the final three minutes of the quarter without committing a foul. After shooting 57% from the field, the first ended with a four-point Cleveland lead.

Second Quarter

• Starting 0-for-3 tonight after a rough night vs KnicksJeff Dowtin Jr. was replaced by Reggie Jackson to start the second. Jackson provided an immediate boost by knocking down his first three jumpers of the game as the Sixers started the quarter on a 12-1 run.

• Bona’s first shift lasted about six minutes in total. Although he appeared to be a rookie, he even looked iffy making run-out passes to the guards, but he had some solid moments. He had strong competition at the rim, forcing Evan Mobley to miss everything. His only mistake was standing up to stop a Jarrett Allen dunk.
• McCain certainly seemed ready for his first NBA start. He led the Sixers in points and assists at halftime with 16 and five. He had a harder time getting to that scoop layup against these bigs, but he did fine with his jumpers. It’s already hard to come up with new ways to describe how surprisingly good he has been through the first 11 games of his career. The Sixers went into the half with a six-point lead.

Third Quarter

• The offense had a restlessness to start the second half that wasn’t there in the first. McCain had a few turnovers trying to be ambitious, and one pass he just dropped completely. Kyle Lowry also had a nasty one trying to draw a foul. Less than four minutes later and the Cavs had regained the lead.
• Lowry started the season over 60% from three, but is just 11% over his last four games entering tonight. Through three quarters, he was 0-of-6 from the field and 0-of-4 from three. Jackson was a quick sub for Lowry early in the third. Lowry’s shooting will definitely even out, but the dramatic swings can be tough when he can’t really score anywhere else right now.

• While it may have felt like the Sixers might have run McCain too much, the minutes he checked out showed why. The half-court offense was a struggle, but for some reason the Cavs weren’t able to put them away. An Oubre putback layup with seconds left made it a four-point Cavs’ lead after three.

Fourth Quarter

• An impressive part of McCain’s night was the assists he was able to pick up even with all the shots he took. He opened the fourth with a really nice jump pass to Jackson, who buried the three. McCain scored or assisted on nine of the first 11 Sixers points in the quarter.
• Bona didn’t end the night with any highlights, but the fact that he wasn’t a complete liability out there was a big help. He seemed much more aggressive in trying to grab defensive rebounds than Drummond has so far this year. He finished with a team-high nine rebounds.

• While Garland had it all night, Donovan Mitchell had an off shooting night. He was just 2-of-9 from three before knocking down three in a row in the final minutes. As good as McCain was, it was too much firepower to overcome.
• The Sixers are back in action this Friday for more NBA Cup action. Their second game in the group stage is in Orlando against the Magic at 7 p.m. ET. Nick Nurse has already said that Joel Embiid and Paul George will be back in the lineup for that one.