Cavs dominate Sixers

Summary

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The Athletic NBA Daily – “Cavs Dominate Sixers”

Date: January 15, 2026
Hosts: Dave DuFour, Zena Keita
Guest: Tony Jones

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Overview

This episode of The Athletic NBA Daily spotlights a dominant Cleveland Cavaliers victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, dives into the Cavs' resurgence, and scrutinizes Philly's physical and tactical shortcomings—particularly in a game where Joel Embiid looked off his best. The show also reviews the Kings’ and Nuggets’ winning ways and looks ahead to potential playoff implications for both Cleveland and Philadelphia.

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Key Discussion Points

Cleveland Cavs Blow Out the Sixers (01:44–04:16, 11:28–29:50)

• Cleveland’s Reemergence:
  Dave and Zena note that after questioning the Cavs’ energy and toughness all season, they finally looked sharp—especially on defense and attacking the paint.

  • Dave: “They really, I thought, put on a clinic…the way they were getting into the paint and scoring against the Sixers. This is more of what we expected…” (02:40)

• Darius Garland’s Impact and Injury:
  Garland contributed 20 points and 7 assists (+10 in 23 mins), but left early with a foot injury, raising concerns about Cleveland’s depth moving forward.

• Three-Point Barrage:
  Cleveland shot 20/46 from deep, leveraging offensive spacing to break down Philly’s defense (04:16).

  • Dave: “You’re not going to lose a ton of games shooting like that.” (04:16)

• Kings and Nuggets Recap:

  • Sacramento Kings: Won third straight, defeating quality opponents but facing questions about Karl-Anthony Towns’ engagement. “That’s not a basketball game, that’s a workout,” Zena jokes about his low-impact statline (05:00).
  • Denver Nuggets: Impressive 6–3 record sans Jokic, with Jamal Murray and Peyton Watson stepping up.
    • Zena: “Jamal Murray has stepped up in every game since Nikola Jokic has been gone...[he’s] taking on the leadership position that we know him capable to be...” (07:56–09:13)

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In-Depth: Why Did the Sixers Collapse?

With Tony Jones
(11:28–29:50)

Context & Immediate Game Takeaways

• Scheduling & Fatigue Factors:
  Tony notes this was Philly’s third game in four nights, plus their first home game after a long road trip.

  • Tony: “...even under that context...it doesn’t excuse exactly what happened tonight...They didn’t show up, they didn’t have any legs, they didn’t have any energy...They just didn’t have it tonight.” (11:51–13:42)

• Effort and Defensive Physicality:
  Sixers uncharacteristically lacked effort—surprising for a team defined this year by resilience without Embiid.

  • Tony: “That’s why they’ve been able to survive with no Joel Embiid. But tonight it was a stinker.” (12:47)

• Embiid’s Struggles:
  He looked noticeably slow and out of sync: four turnovers in the first eight minutes, frustrated by Cavs’ twin towers Mobley and Allen.

  • Zena: “Joel Embiid looked really groggy…Evan Mobley, Jared Allen really made it hard for him to score…” (13:42)

Tactical Analysis

• Cleveland’s Defensive Strategy:
  Clever pick-and-roll coverages and crowding the Embiid-Maxey two-man game took Philly out of their offensive rhythm.

  • Tony: “Cleveland did a really good job with their pick and roll coverages and crowding that two-man game between Embiid and Maxey and they just didn’t let those guys dictate what the offense was going to be.” (14:55)

• Sixers’ Offensive Issues:
  Cleveland forced Dominic Barlow and VJ Edgecombe to become shooters, crowding the stars and daring Philly’s role players to beat them—a calculated risk that paid off.

• Cavs’ Spacing and Role Player Contributions:
  Mobley and Allen’s presence opened up the court; Cleveland’s guards (Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland) attacked mismatches and drilled open threes.

  • Tony: “Paint touch, drive…Tyson in the corner three. Sam in the corner three. Or Donovan’s pulling up for three…” (22:57)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Donovan Mitchell’s Killing Blow:

  • Tony: “It was demoralizing that Donovan Mitchell came out in the third quarter and just cooked everybody.” (20:51)

• On Tyrese Maxey’s Heavy Load:

  • Dave: “...he is averaging a touch under 40 minutes a night, which is pretty absurd. My back hurts just thinking about it.” (28:30)

• On Embiid’s Mentality:

  • Tony: “You see a lot of guys mentally check out when they aren’t themselves, when, you know, the realization is, oh my God, I’m actually washed… Joel’s clearly not there.” (18:57)

Coaching Points and Adjustments Suggested

• Strategy for Philly:
  Tony suggests deploying Kelly Oubre more, using increased switching to avoid pitting Embiid directly against Allen as a screener—reducing defensive vulnerability and maximizing Embiid as a helper rather than constant PnR target. (25:16–26:40)

• Sixers Defensive Breakdowns:
  Philly’s lack of adjustment to Cleveland’s drive-and-kick kept letting the Cavs hit open threes and eat in the paint.

  • Zena: “...the Mobley was throwing over the Sixers defense over and over, getting that pick, the high, low action with Jared Allen…” (21:40)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Cavs-Sixers Game Breakdown: 01:44 – 04:16, 11:28 – 29:50
• Jazz, Kings, and Nuggets Recaps: 02:16 – 09:13
• Guest Tony Jones Joins: 11:28
• Sixers’ Fatigue & Defensive Woes: 12:00 – 14:55
• Cavs’ Defensive Game Plan: 14:30 – 17:40
• Role Players & Tyrese Maxey Spotlight: 17:40 – 21:12, 27:15 – 28:43
• Coaching Strategies & Adjustments: 25:16 – 27:15

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Tone & Style Highlights

• Casual and Candid: The hosts are frank, sometimes irreverent. Zena refers to low-impact performances as “a workout, not a basketball game.” Tony is analytical but relatable, self-deprecating (“I’m a Marriott guy!” at 25:14).
• Basketball Nerd Appeal: Heavy on X’s and O’s, but still accessible, using analogies like “paint touch, drive, kick” and referencing defending “point of attack.”
• Chemistry: Lively banter—especially as the hosts tease Tony as “Coach Jones” for his tactical thoughts.

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Conclusion

This episode is a sharp, insightful breakdown of why the Sixers got blown out, why Cleveland finally looked like contenders, and what factors—from scheduling to defensive schemes—mattered most in the blowout. The discussions are peppered with notable stats, memorable one-liners, and “mini-clinics” in on-court tactics, making it highly engaging for both casual and hardcore NBA fans alike.

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Notable Quotes

• “They really, I thought, put on a clinic…the way they were getting into the paint and scoring against the Sixers. This is more of what we expected…”
  – Dave DuFour (02:40)

• “They didn’t show up, they didn’t have any legs, they didn’t have any energy...They just didn’t have it tonight.”
  – Tony Jones (13:10)

• “Jamal Murray has stepped up in every game since Nikola Jokic has been gone.”
  – Zena Keda (07:56)

• “Paint touch, drive…Tyson in the corner three. Sam in the corner three. Or Donovan’s pulling up for three…”
  – Tony Jones (22:57)

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For full tactical insight and behind-the-scenes commentary, listeners are pointed to Tony Jones’s recent feature on Joel Embiid at The Athletic.

Transcript

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[Dave DeFore]

Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily presented by Amazon prime for January 15, 2026. I'm Dave DeFore here with Zena Keda. Coming up, the Cavs win big. The Kings win their third straight. Gotta break them up. And we talked to Tony Jones about the Sixers second of that Cavs game and Embiid's future. Good morning, everybody. Good morning, Xena. How are you?

[Zena Keda]

I'm wonderful. Another lovely night of hoops, you know.

[Dave DeFore]

Okay, some of the games were good, some of them were bad. I will. I want to tip the cap to my guy. Bryce sent about 43 points off the bench. Absurd shooting performance for the for the Utah Jazz in what was a perfect tank loss to the Chicago Bulls. Right. I mean, it was just. They Were competitive. They were all in there. Their young guy, Keonte George misses a big shot at the end. Bryce Sensibaugh was ridiculous. And also only two assists. That's a real Hooper stat line right there. 43 points, two assists. I love that. Speaking of Hoopers, the Cavs absolutely were hooping all over the Sixers last night. And we're going to talk the Sixers side of the loss after the break with Tony Jones and some of the bigger picture stuff with the Sixers. But we got to hit the Cavs because we've been hammering the Cavs for looking soft and for being low energy themselves like the Sixers were last night. And frankly, they came out and they looked so good. They really, I, I thought put on a clinic with the way that they not only defended, but the way that they were getting into the paint and scoring against the Sixers. This is more of what we expected this season from them. And I need to note that Darius Garland had a really nice game. 20 points, 7 assists. They were plus 10 in his 23 minutes. He left the game with a foot injury. So as we're praising the Cavs, they're finally starting to get their pieces together. Down goes Darius Garland again. And that's a whole another conversation.

[Zena Keda]

Yeah, the Cleveland Cavaliers came out and made this attract me immediately. And Philadelphia was just not ready at the line. They didn't hear the gun go off. They were groggy and slow to start. And you saw a little bit of not only Cleveland's offense running so well, it was truly Phillies defense just didn't match. So I don't know how much it was a factor of whether the offense was so much spectacular from the Cavs vs. Just the physicality not being met by the Sixers. But we're gonna have to break that down with Tony Jones.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, they, they also went 20 of 46. The Cavs 20 of 46 from 3. You're not going to lose a ton of games shooting like that.

[Zena Keda]

That's a, that's a theme we're going to get into for tonight because the games that were on threes were a mat ma major factor.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, they kind of got hot. Speaking of threes, the Kings have now won three straight and they're not beating bums. Xena, they beat the Rockets, they beat the Lakers, and last night they beat the Knicks. Now a lot of people are going to point and they're going to say Jalen Brunson left this game with an ankle injury.

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[Dave DeFore]

We'll get an update on that I'm assuming sometime today. He only played five minutes. Zena. But to me, I say, well, OG Anunoby, Carl Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, Mikhail Bridges. That's not enough to beat the Kings.

[Zena Keda]

Right? That. That's a tough question. And we're. We're starting to put a spotlight on Katie, because this is now the second kind of, like, empty calorie game. Right? Have you ever heard of those where it's just like, you burned a lot of minutes. You play 22 minutes, and you get 13 points, four rebounds, one assist. That's. That's not a. That's a workout. It's not a basketball game. Right. And we know what he's capable of calling Athena Towns when Jalen Brunson is out. But we didn't see him step up. We didn't see him take on that gravity. And you saw the complete opposite. On the other side of the ball from his former teammate. Precious was like, you didn't want me, bro. Y' all didn't want me. The Knicks didn't want me. Don't worry. I'll put up the 20 points that you expect, which is what cat typically averages 21 points. But I mentioned two games now. We've seen. He did this against Detroit. He had six points against Detroit. And we're like, what's happening here? And then he's now done this against Sacramento. You can make sense of it in Detroit, but against Sacramento, you are supposed to be that guy outside on the board.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah. The precious Achua revenge game. He had 20 points, 14 rebounds, six offensive rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks. That's. That's a really great game. I mean, everyone on the Kings kind of went off.

[Zena Keda]

Yeah.

[Dave DeFore]

Russell Westbrook had 19 points, 11 assists. DeMarta Rosen had 27 points. Zach Levine had 25 points. I'm sure that this is, like, Vivek must be watching this and saying, see, this was the vision.

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[Dave DeFore]

We had it all along. These guys can do it. I mean, this was a. It was a fun game. The Kings, it's nice when they get to light the beam.

[Zena Keda]

So now, Houston Lakers, Knicks.

[Dave DeFore]

That's right.

[Zena Keda]

And then Wizards are coming to town. I mean, we'll see what happens.

[Dave DeFore]

Hey, listen, about to be four straight. You just play the ones that are in front of you. This is the first time, by the way, that the Kings have won three in a row since last April, so. Been a minute since they tied them together. Hey, speaking of teams, we got to break up the Nuggets without Jokic. They're 6 and 3. They beat the Mavs last night. 118, 109. Jamal Murray again. I, I think that case for the All Star game. Just go ahead and book it. Book that flight, Jamal. 33 points in the game last night. Peyton Watson, who has become a favorite here on this show, had another 18 points. You know, adding to his resume. The. The Nuggets, this depth, we're going to continue to hammer this because when Jokic comes back, and it does look like that's getting sooner, there were reports yesterday that he's doing on court work. I, I have this feeling like he might be back before, like the 1st of February, which would be amazing for them. I mean, considering that they've performed so well without him. I don't know, Zena. The Nuggets are feeling like the best team in, in the league. I, I just can't get over how well that they've played without Nicole Jokic. It just doesn't really make any sense. I know it's the Mavericks, but still, I mean, they. They look good. Good.

[Zena Keda]

They look very good. And I, I'll give you that. That they definitely look great in, in a way that we didn't expect without Nicola Jokic. We remember what those plus minuses were like last year. And so for them to have found these, like, found gems on their bench is amazing. We're seeing Spencer Jones come in, get fouled a lot. Like, he finds a way to get fouled. He gets to the free throw line a lot. Of course, we've talked about Peyton Watson. I don't know if it's ad nauseam, but we're talking about Peyton Watson. He has put himself on the spotlight there, but just in general, this team is defending really well, but it goes back to playing what we just talked about with Karl Anthony Towns. He has not stepped up in those moments when Jalen Brunson is not available. Particularly we saw against the Sacramento Kings. Jamal Murray has stepped up in every game since Nicole Jokic has been gone. And that has been the key all season long, really, for the Denver Nuggets. Whether Nicola was on the floor or not. Jamal Murray was playing like all Star Jamal Murray that we know him to be. Whether it was being an organizer, getting to the rack, getting to his spots, using his strength as mean, getting folks off of him. It was really fun watching him, you know, put on a master class last night. But, yeah, I shout out to Jamal Murray taking on the leadership position that we know him capable to be like from a vocal perspective, but obviously from a performance perspective too.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, they're cooking right now. All right, everybody stick around. After the break, we go deep with Tony Jones. We talk big time about the game. And just like the the short term future of this Sixers team, I think it's they might be competitive come playoff time.

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[Dave DeFore]

Another night, another NBA daily curse victim. This time it's our Sixers who we've been hyping up Xena, and we had to put the curse on them by booking Tony Jones for the show. 133, 107 the Cavs just, they just manhandled the Sixers. I mean, it started in the first quarter. Tony. It felt like a. A blowout after the end of one and it wound up being even worse.

[Tony Jones]

Yeah, they got cooked tonight. I mean, it's. You know, here's the thing. When you look at the NBA, there are certain barometer games where you know that a team is going to probably have, you know, heavy legs. Okay? So night after back to back, third game of four nights. This is Sixers third game in four nights. If you. The. The kind of. The unspoken saying is if you're coming back from a long road trip, the first. The first home game, it's always difficult. So this is the first home game on. On. On. On the heels of a road trip that went all the way down to Orlando, then all the way back up to Canada for two, and then back down to Philly. But even under those guys, even under that context, even if we give them grace for that, it doesn't excuse exactly what happened tonight, which is they came out, they had no legs from the start. You know, they had no energy from the start. And that's been very atypical of this Sixers team this year. This team has kind of been defined by the fact that they've found a way to play hard 90% of the time, 90% of the nights, which is kind of atypical of the rest of the NBA. And, you know, they've. That's why they've. One of the reasons why they've been able to survive with no Joel Embiid. But tonight it was a stinker. They didn't show up, they didn't have any legs, they didn't have any energy. They tried to muster a couple of rallies, a couple of responses, but once, you know, Cleveland kind of shut both of those surges down, they. They kind of let the rope go a little bit. So, you know, they have to figure it out and get on the Friday night. But I think, you know, down to a man, I think everybody knows what happened tonight.

[Zena Keda]

I mean, we talk a little bit about what. Who contributed to this. And Joel Embiid looked really groggy in comparison to what we've seen him be in the last few. Last few games. Four turnovers in the first eight minutes look like the twin towers. On the Cleveland side, Evan Mobley, Jared Allen really made it hard for him to score, even though he did end up with some respectable numbers. It just felt like he was a little bit frustrated in terms of his ability to get to the basket easier and have to fight through bodies overall. Is this what the Sixers will look like against a tough defense? They did not have the physicality that you would expect them to have. Do you have any concerns about did this show or reveal anything about their physicality against a tough defense?

[Tony Jones]

Well, I, I think, you know, I think this is a multi layer question. I think one of the answers is we'll know a little bit more, probably a lot more on Friday night. Phillies 0 and 2 against this, the, against the Cavaliers this year. The first loss, that was the second night of a back to back. You're definitely not going to win that. They had gone to overnight with the what they have gone the overtime I believe the night before. Oh that was actually they lost at the buzzer to the Chicago Bulls. So you know their legs have been drained the night before. So that was kind of a throwaway game tonight. You know, you explain all of that Friday night both teams are probably are going to be on the same rest advantage and you know the Cleveland's going to have a night off in a city in the same city. Philly's going to have a night off in the same city. They're probably going to have the same, you know, amount of legs. You know, I think that's going to be more indicative of what a playoff matchup between these teams will look like. You know, so, so there's that. As for Embiid, you know, he couldn't get to his spots tonight and that was pretty evident early. Jared Allen did a really good job of getting him a step away from where he wanted to be. You know, I think that, you know, Philly, Cleveland did really good job with their pick and roll coverages and crowding and crowding that two man game between Embiid and Maxi and they just didn't let them let those guys dictate what the offense was going to be. And I thought that that was really apparent early and I thought that was a really important moniker into to why this game into what it turned into. So you know, I think the, the Sixers have to figure out the spacing around that two man game. Get that thing spaced. I think that Cleveland, you know, came in and said, okay, we're going to, you know, Dominic Barlow's in the corner. We're going to let him take all of the corner threes that he wants to. We're going to crowd Paul George and we're going to, you know, we know that Vijay Escom has shot the ball well, but we're going to trust what we think his jumper was, you know, before the season, not what the numbers are, not the 38% now. So you know, this was one of the first teams that I Think that, you know, since Tyrese and Joel kind of got going. Got going, have made both of those guys just see bodies. You know, they've been playing with so much space. They've been playing so freely. You know, Cleveland made them see bodies. You know, I think they did a really good job on, on Tyrese Maxey. I thought Jalen Tyson did a really good job in his point of attack defense. I think that he did a really good job of not conceding switches. So, you know, Tyrese couldn't take advantage of. Okay, now I have Donovan Mitchell with Darius Garland. There wasn't a lot of those matchups. And Evan Mobley looked like Tim Duncan out there.

[Dave DeFore]

If, yeah, he looked good.

[Tony Jones]

Evan Mo Wind.

[Dave DeFore]

You know, who hasn't really looked good this year? I mean, I, I, I would say that part of that is that Embiid did look like you said, he looked a step slow, like a guy. I mean, he's played nine of their last 12, something like that. And, and maybe, you know, this, this travel, like you said, the trip could, could have contributed to that a little bit. But he has looked better than I think any of us expected of him at this point of the season. I mean, this team has been better. And I think that Embiid being able to come in and find his way around these young guys is part of, you know, there's the secret to their success. You mentioned they're, they're playing like 90% at this high effort, and that's because I think Adem Bona and Andre Drummond have been able to provide that when Embiid isn't out there to be the offensive guy. I mean, they've been able to apply that defensively and on the boards. But the truth is, it's been, it's been a full team effort, you know, led. Led by Tyrese Maxey. I mean, this is a little bit of a two timeline situation that they've stumbled into due to Joel Embiid's injuries and Paul George, obviously the same thing, but they clearly have a path forward behind these young guys. And I think that we've seen that movement already be accepted within the organization. And Joel Embiid seems like he's bought in.

[Tony Jones]

Yeah, I think that he's bought in, and I think that it helps him buy in from the fact that he's getting on the floor and he's feeling like himself and he's looking like himself. So, you know, I think that, you know, there's a, there's a train of thought that's like okay. You know, we don't know when the bottom falls out. The bottom can fall out. But right now, on myself right now, I can play any All Star Game. I'm still good enough to play in the All Star Game. So, you know, you see a lot of guys mentally check out when they aren't themselves and when, you know, the realization is, oh my God, I'm like actually washed, like there's nothing left in the tank and Joel's clearly not there. So, you know, it helps him. That helps him buy into. Yeah, I can let Tyrese Maxey Cook and I can let VJ Cook and, you know, and Paul knows pretty definitively that he's a third option and he's really comfortable with operating as a third option in the offense. So I think all of those things have worked so far. You know, I think the offense has been clunky, you know, to start out, to start the journey. It's gotten a little better of late. It was terrible tonight. But, you know, maybe that's a one off. You know, I, I thought that it was really telling that VJ Atchcombe, for one of the first times this year, kind of really didn't have it, you know, because he's kind of always bought it, you know, especially, you know, energy wise and defensively wise and, you know, and I thought that it was demoralizing that, that, that Donovan Mitchell came out in the third quarter and just cooked everybody.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, yeah.

[Zena Keda]

I mean, look, the game started out didn't help either.

[Dave DeFore]

His, the low energy for the Sixers got him off to a bad start. I mean, the, I, I think the, the shot advantage for the Cavs at the end of the first quarter was like 14 shots or something like that about 13 minutes into the game when.

[Tony Jones]

The last time I checked that rebounded five of their first six missed shots.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah. And then when Donovan Mitchell comes out hot after halftime, it's over. You know, you. You've already started out in, in the hole and, you know, you can't come back when, when Donovan gets hot, which Tony has probably seen more than anybod at this point, you know, in the NBA. Sorry, Zen, I didn't mean to cut you off, but I do just want to reiterate the point that this is actually, this wasn't. It was an aberration of a game. I thought the way that the Sixers came out, I was shocked.

[Zena Keda]

It's kind of hard to use this game as. Tony, I like the way you mentioned it, like the barometer to be able to measure where Philly has been. We've been so complimentary of the growth that Philly has had throughout over the course of the season, particularly offensively. I was shocked at the lack of adjustments on defense. Like the Mobley was throwing over the Sixers defense over and over, getting that pick, the high, low action with Jared Allen. And I was shocked that they were not adjusting. Nick Nurse was not, you know, it was strange. And then they were over collapsing. You're seeing the kick and drive. That was really what happened the first quarter. Just driving, kick, driving kick, driving kick over and over and people were over committing to drivers and letting folks hit shots. When the score went, I think the deficit was like 15. And Sam Merrill comes in and does what Sam Merrill does and hit shots ballooned it to 25. I'm like, @ some point we might have to just do a hedge. You might have to stick with some shooters. But it was interesting to see that even that the Nick Nurse deciding to, you know, I don't know if that was his decision or what the players were saying to him, like, this is what we're seeing out there. But that also felt like an aberration from their defense not being able to adjust to the actions that you saw, particularly with the.

[Tony Jones]

Bigs. There were a couple things. And Z, you make some. These are some really good points. Because I asked Nick Nurse before the game, I said, you know, tell me about Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell and how difficult for a coach like you because Nick Nurse constantly stresses poa. Point of attack defense, point of attack defense. And you know, how difficult is it for. For those guys? And you know, Nick, Nick told me, say, hey, you know, Donovan is like a running back out there. You know, Darius is such a great pick and role player. It's hard to keep those out of the paint. But that's definitely a. That's definitely a priority for us. And then they proceeded to give up every single paint touch world off the dribble today. And it was, it was an easy game for the Cavaliers, right? Paint touch, drive, just like Z said. Drive, draw, kick. Tyson in the corner three. Sam in the corner three. Or Donovan's pulling up for three or Darius Garland's pulling up for three. You know, Philly came out in the drop and Darius Garland killed that in the first quarter. And then Donovan Mitchell killed the drop in the third quarter. They tried to adjust. They said, okay, let's adjust. We're going to go zone. Donovan promptly shoots over the zone. It was one of those games. And, you know, Evan hit, you know, three or Four jump jumpers in the first quarter. That really hurt them as well. Because now if you even have to go out and you have to guard Evan Mobley to three, then that's even more spacing for. For the guards to do damage. So, you know, it was kind of a perfect storm. You know, obviously, you know, the effort. You talk about the effort, you talk about the legs. You could talk about all of that stuff if you want, but the scheme was a perfect storm that was, you know, killing the Sixers as well. So, yeah, you know, I think the answer if I'm an NBA head coach, and I'm not an NBA head coach, I am an NBA journalist, not a head coach, I'm a journalist, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn last.

[Dave DeFore]

Night. That's not true. You're a Marriott.

[Tony Jones]

Guy. I am a Marriott.

[Royal Kingdom Advertiser]

Guy.

[Tony Jones]

See? But those points, if I am a coach, I'm going to try to. I'm going to do this. I'm going to play Kelly Oubre because I don't think Dominic Barlow is going to play on.

[Zena Keda]

Friday. He hurt his back.

[Tony Jones]

Right? Yes, back condition. I'm going to play Kelly Oubre a lot of minutes if he's not on a minutes restriction because he did come back. And I'm going to switch a lot of this, a lot of the action up top. And I'm going to put Joel Embiid on somebody other than Jared Allen, because if I put him on Jared Allen, Jared Allen's just going to be the screener and that's just going to put Joel Embiid into the action. And that's where the Sixers got themselves in a lot of trouble defense, defensively, defensively tonight. So, yeah, I'll see how that works and I'll try to switch a lot of stuff up top and make them, you know, make them see like defenders. So if I'm switching, switching from Paul George to Vijay Edgam, switching from Vijay Edgam to, to. To Kelly Oubre and you know, maybe the matchups are a little bit more in Philadelphia's.

[Dave DeFore]

Favorite. I mean, it's probably an easier job for, for Embiid to be the low man and slide over into help anyway on those guys. But Jared Allen can make you pay in a mismatch, so you got to be.

[Zena Keda]

Careful. I like the.

[Tony Jones]

Idea. You gotta get him off the boards. That's.

[Zena Keda]

Right. Yeah, that's real. I like the idea, though, the switching particularly because that one action, I think it's a big. That is. That has it at the top of the key. And Donovan Or Darius are curling off of and off like the wing screen. And they're like, you gotta, you, you're. If you're locking and trailing, you're gonna be behind at all.

[Tony Jones]

Times.

[Zena Keda]

Right? And then Jared Allen's just rolling. It's just, I like the idea of screen. I just am interested of how we know the Cavs can adjust, so we'll see what happens. But, yeah, this is, I'm seeing the, I'm seeing you being coach right now, Tony. I appreciate.

[Dave DeFore]

This. Thank you, Coach. Tony Jones out there. All right, Tony, before we get out of here, Tyrese Maxey, I just want to hit him just solo. The season that he's had all NBA guy.

[Tony Jones]

Right? Yes. Second team at this point, for me, right. Is like, for me, I think right now, I'd have Kate on my first team. I'd have Anthony Edwards on my first team. I'd have Jaylen Brown on my first team. Would you have Luka on your first.

[Dave DeFore]

Team? I just don't know.

[Tony Jones]

Tony. I, I, I don't, I don't have Luka on my first team. Yeah, we're, we're thinking there's no wimy. Right? Like, there's no Wimy and there's no.

[Dave DeFore]

Jokic. I think Yic, we're not sure about this 65 game rule is making the conversation a little less fun. Shay would be first team all NBA, I'm assuming, obviously. I think right now, max season, it's somewhere between second team and third team. I think it depends on how the rest of the year goes. But the season that he's had, carrying the team for, for the opening months, I mean, the guy is. How many minutes is he averaging a game right.

[Tony Jones]

Now? Tony? He is averaging a touch under 40 minutes a night, which is pretty absurd. My back hurts just.

[Zena Keda]

Thinking. Right. That's exactly why I said this is, that's disgusting. That is.

[Tony Jones]

Absurd.

[Dave DeFore]

Wow. By the way, I didn't mention it when we were talking about Joel Embiid, but if you're listening to pod, it's worth your time. Go over to the Athletic. Tony just did a big story on Joel Embiid and finding his joy and, you know, like, the recovery from injury for athletes is something that I do think we take for granted. And I, I, Tony, I love the story. I thought it was a good, good chance to see the mindset of Joel Embiid right now as he's trying to reintegrate and find his way as a guy who was an MVP and now clearly isn't and is trying to discover what? What sort of player does he get to be for the rest of his career? So I thought that was really good. So everybody go and read that. We're gonna get out of here. Tony, thank you so much for hanging out with us again. Guys, go and read Tony Jones. He's one of the best in the business and one of my favorite people. People say we look like.

[Tony Jones]

Twins. I don't.

[Dave DeFore]

Know. By the way, I'm just gonna say Tony is.

[Tony Jones]

People. Our dart session in Dallas that night is still.

[Zena Keda]

Legendary. Oh.

[Dave DeFore]

Wow. And will remain Story will remain.

[Tony Jones]

Untold. That's all that's going to be said.

[Dave DeFore]

There. There you go. For Tony Jones and Zena Keda, I'm Dave DeFore and this has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for hanging out with.

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[Zena Keda]

Details.