Alan Kornspan
Believeland Media
The Cleveland Cavaliers won their 13th game in a row on Wednesday night as they defeated the Philadelphia 76ers, 114-106.
In obtaining the victory, the Cavs picked up their defensive intensity in the second half of the contest.
The Cavs started the game strong taking a 31-27 lead into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, the 76ers outscored the Cavs by 10 points to take a 54-48 lead into halftime.
In the second half, the Cavs picked up the defensive intensity and took an 82-78 lead into the final quarter.
The game stayed very close throughout the final quarter.
In fact, the Cavs led by two points, 98-96 with 5:33 left in the contest.
However, in the final 5:33 of the game, the Cavs outscored the 76ers, 16-10, to defeat the 76ers 114-106.
After the game, Cavs Head Coach Kenny Atkinson talked about a few keys to the game on both the offensive and defensive sides of the court.
Offensively, Atkinson was happy with how his team shared the ball throughout the game even though at times the Cavs were not shooting well from the field.
“Even though it wasn't going in we kept making the right play, we kept making the right pass,” said Atkinson.
On the defensive side of the court, Atkinson said that the Cavs played better defensively in the second half. In particular, the Cavs were more energetic defensively, and applied better ball pressure in the second half.
To help the Cavs raise their defensive intensity in the second half, Atkinson said that the coaching staff talked with the team about defensive strategy during halftime.
“We had an honest talk at halftime, we showed some clips, they just weren't feeling us, they were running where they wanted too, we had no ball pressure, our energy was low, our physicality wasn't great,” said Atkinson. "These guys here are a winning group and they turned it up. I thought Isaac (Okoro) was super important, putting the pressure on the ball.”
Atkinson said that putting pressure on the ball is often underappreciated.
In putting pressure on the ball Atkinson emphasized that the Cavs defense is focused on their perimeter players trying to get steals, since they have Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley in the post to block shots and defend the rim.
For the game, the Cavs forced the 76ers to turnover the ball 12 times. In fact, leading the Cavs defense in steals were Okoro and Mitchell who both had 2 steals for the night.
In addition to the Cavs excellent defense in the second half, leading the way offensively against the 76ers were guards Darius Garland (25 points) and Donovan Mitchell (23 points). Also contributing offensively for the Cavs were Evan Mobley (14), Jarrett (11), Okoro (9), Ty Jerome (8), Georges Niang (8), Caris LeVert (7), Dean Wade (6), and Craig Porter Jr. (3 points).
After the Cavs picked up their 13th victory in a row to start the season, Donovan Mitchell said that the team fought hard and kept fighting and battling throughout the game to get the victory.
“The biggest thing, we kept pushing, like I said, just continue to fight, continue to battle, and we all did a great job,” said Mitchell.
In discussing why the Cavs have been able to win 13 in a row, Mitchell said that the whole team has done a great job of working together and on any given night many individuals have stepped up to help the team have success.
Mitchell said that it has been fun to win all of these games. But, that being able to have this type of success is because the team is doing things the right way and everybody is contributing.
“It's the habits, everybody is playing the right way, everybody is getting touches, and that's what makes it special,” said Mitchell.
With the victory the Cavs are now one of six teams in NBA history to start the season, 13-0.
The Cavs will try to win their 14th game in a row on Friday night when they host the Chicago Bulls at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in the first round of Emirates NBA Cup.
Tip off tomorrow against the Bulls is scheduled for 7:30pm.
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