5 Takeaways From Cavaliers’ 119-95 Win Over 76ers

The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 119-95 Friday night at Rocket Arena, opening Emirates NBA Cup group play with a 24-point margin. Cleveland played without Jarrett Allen and lost Sam Merrill to an elbow injury at halftime.

Back-to-back losses to Oklahoma City had dropped the Cavaliers to 4-4, and Brian Windhorst addressed Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson’s job status after that start. Friday’s win moved Cleveland to 5-4. Philadelphia fell to 8-2.

Watson sat out both Oklahoma City games with right hamstring tightness. In his return, he had 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists in 28 minutes, shot 6-of-14, and finished plus-22. Nine of the points and 7 of the rebounds came after halftime.

Atkinson said Watson’s work on Tyrese Maxey was excellent. Maxey, who scored 32 against Cleveland on Oct. 22, went 5-of-15 from the field.

Cleveland opened the second half with Watson, Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley, and rookie Meleek Thomas on the floor. Over the final 7:54 of the third quarter, Cleveland outscored Philadelphia 24-9.

Getting Watson comfortable bringing the ball up after his time out is a priority for the staff, Atkinson said.

“A big part of that was Peyton, like starting,” Atkinson said. “Obviously he’s been out a little bit here, so we got to make sure we’re empowering him to bring the ball up, but especially if they’re going to put their five on him, or a lesser defender, he’s got to be in attack mode, and I thought that was part of it.”

“And then you got Meleek and Tyrese running the wings,” Atkinson continued. “Upped our speed level, but I think a big part of that was Peyton.”

Allen’s absence left Cleveland without its starting center against Joel Embiid.

“Big time, especially defensively, right?” Mitchell said. “Obviously having JA out, having him in there. Obviously, you have Ev who has his length, and then Peyton, who’s disrupting the ball. And then when Ev’s on the perimeter, you got a guy like Peyton down there challenging guys at the rim, making it tough on guys on ball.”

“So it was big time to have him back, especially considering JA was out,” Mitchell detailed. “But you look at what he’s done on the defensive end, then offensively, 6-of-14, man, plus-22, 9 boards. Doing it all.”

Watson had averaged 10.8 points and 4.0 rebounds in six starts before the hamstring issue. Cleveland acquired him from Denver in a sign-and-trade agreed to Aug. 19.

Mobley started at center and scored 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. He went 3-of-4 from 3-point range and is 20-of-39 from deep through nine games.

Hours before tip-off, Kendrick Perkins said on ESPN’s “NBA Today” that Cleveland’s guards have to make Mobley the player the offense goes through. Perkins’ benchmark was 25 points and 12 rebounds.

Atkinson is unsure where Mobley stands with the national media.

“He’s really playing great basketball,” Atkinson explained. “I don’t know where it is in the national media. It seems like every game, he’s — when he hits those threes — we were struggling a little, hits that first three. I just feel like he’s playing great basketball all around, and the [Embiid] matchup, that was obviously a good challenge for him, but he played great tonight. He’s playing great overall.”

Embiid did not make a field goal in 25 minutes. He went 0-of-9 and scored his 6 points at the line.

Mobley can roll or pop when defenses send two at Mitchell in the pick-and-roll.

“It creates indecision, and you got to give Ev a lot of credit,” Mitchell explained. “It’s the right ones too, right? He could obviously say, ‘Oh, I’ve hit two,’ and settle and take a bunch. The same thing with any guard like myself. You could hit a few and be like, ‘Oh, I’m going to continue to shoot and not put any pressure on the rim.’ But then you see his rolls — I’m getting doubled in a pick-and-roll, and now he’s right there for getting into the paint or a lob or whatever. So credit to him for mixing up and doing both.”

“When you have a big like Embiid or whoever you play tomorrow, same thing — creating that indecision with them obviously is huge, and credit him for being able to do both,” Mitchell noted. “And if he does pop and they recover, now he’s playing second-side action, right? It’s just a threat of all different options. He’s expanded his game since I first got here to be able to do that, and then also having the IQ to know when to as well.”

Mobley won Defensive Player of the Year in 2024-25, the first Cavalier to do so.

Thomas, the No. 34 pick in June out of Arkansas, started the second half in Merrill’s place. He finished with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, 3 assists, and 2 steals in 27 minutes, along with 5 fouls.

His two first-quarter 3s came 37 seconds apart, and Mitchell assisted both. Thomas made his first NBA start Monday against Oklahoma City and scored 17, and Atkinson made a bold prediction about the rookie afterward.

Atkinson said the crowd gravitates to Thomas’ style of play.

“He’s talented, man,” Atkinson said. “He’s just talent. Even that pass he threw, he’s just got something. He’s got something different. I felt like his early threes gave us a real boost. The crowd — you can feel certain guys, like, the crowd are attracted to the style of play. So he’s that type of guy.”

In Las Vegas this summer, Thomas led all Summer League scorers at 27.3 points per game.

Hezonja came off the bench for 15 points and 10 rebounds in 26 minutes. Nine of the rebounds were defensive. He shot 6-of-13, 2-of-8 from 3-point range.

Wednesday in Oklahoma City, he scored 12 in 23 minutes. Cleveland outrebounded Philadelphia 56-42 on Friday.

Atkinson said the staff is still figuring out whether Hezonja should be a connector or a scorer in each lineup.

“I loved it,” Atkinson said. “He had 10 rebounds. That’s where his 250 pounds come in and his nose for the ball. So that’s number one. Just finding his niche, what that looks like with each lineup he’s in. Do I need to be a connector with this lineup? Do I need to be a scorer? We’re trying. We’re still trying to figure those things out with him.”

“But the talent is obvious,” Atkinson added. “I love how he’s letting it fly. We need him to space the floor. We need him to take those threes. But the thing that stood out the most tonight was the rebounds.”

Under the league’s Cup rules, ties within a group are broken by head-to-head record first and point differential second. Overtime points do not count.

Cleveland is plus-24 after one game in East Group B, which also includes the New York Knicks, Miami Heat, and Indiana Pacers. Philadelphia is 1-1 in group play.

With 3:16 left and Cleveland up 22, the Cavaliers fouled to stop the clock and get Mitchell out of the game. Labaron Philon Jr. made 1 of 2 free throws.

Mitchell said teams now understand what is happening when Cleveland keeps scoring late in the clock.

“I was screaming at the bench for trying to take the foul, for trying to take me out, because I didn’t want to give them free points,” Mitchell said. “You want to play for a championship, no matter if it’s in December or whenever it is, or in June, right? So we were very cognizant of that. We all were speaking about it.”

“I think teams are now understanding that when we’re scoring at the end of the clock, they get it, right?” Mitchell continued. “You understand what this is. So, as a whole, we were definitely all locked in on that for sure.”

Cleveland’s next group game is Nov. 13 at Miami. Before that, the Cavaliers host the Knicks at 8 p.m. ET Saturday.