Philadelphia 76ers @ Cleveland Cavaliers
Friday, March 29, 2024 at 7:30 PM ET
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH | Game ID: 22301067
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
CLE 28 29 28 32 117PHI 25 30 32 27 114
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Donovan Mitchell returns from injury, Mobley hits late 3-pointers as Cavaliers edge 76ers 117-114
CLEVELAND -- — Donovan Mitchell looked different wearing a protective mask. With the All-Star guard finally back, so did the Cavaliers.
Mitchell returned after missing six games with a broken nose and made two free throws with 12.8 seconds left as Cleveland edged the Philadelphia 76ers 117-114 on Friday night before hitting the road for five games.
Evan Mobley drained a go-ahead 3-pointer with 28.2 seconds left for the Cavs, who have struggled while waiting for Mitchell to get back and have been sliding in the Eastern Conference standings at the worst possible time.
This was a step in the right direction.
“We've been injured and hurt, but there’s no excuse at this point,” Mitchell said. “We’ve got to go out there and continue to find ways to win these games and be ready at the right time.”
Georges Niang scored 25 points against his former Philly teammates and Mobley had 18 of his 20 in the second half as the Cavs won for just the second time in six games.
Darius Garland added 14 points and 12 assists for Cleveland, currently holding the No. 3 seed in the East. With the NCAA women's Final Four in town next week, the Cavs will be on the road with games in Denver, Utah, Phoenix, San Antonio and two in Los Angeles.
“Every game’s a playoff game,” said Mitchell, who scored 12 points in his first game since March 16. “That’s what it’s going to be every night.”
The back-and-forth game featured 27 lead changes, seven in the fourth quarter.
Kyle Lowry had 23 points and Tobias Harris 21 for the Sixers, who are hanging onto a play-in spot as they wait for superstar Joel Embiid to get healthy.
After the Sixers took a 113-112 lead when Tyrese Maxey tipped the ball away from Garland and scored on a layup, Mobley, who didn't attempt a shot in the first half, hit a 3-pointer from the corner to put Cleveland up two.
The Cavs fouled Mo Bamba underneath, but with a chance to tie it, Philly's big man split his free throws. The Sixers put Mitchell on the line and his two free throws with 12.8 seconds made it 117-114.
Philadelphia had one last chance to tie it, but Maxey missed a step-back 3 with 2.1 seconds left and the Sixers couldn't corral the rebound.
Maxey finished just 7 of 26 from the floor, including 2 of 12 on 3s.
“All we needed was that Mobley 3 to not go in and we’d have had a real good chance,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. "We put a decent effort in there, but I don’t think we played that great.”
The Cavs have been aimless without Mitchell, who missed 15 of 20 games since the break with a bruised left knee and the nasal fracture. He looked rusty, and admitted the mask isn't ideal.
“It’s trying to be able to breathe,” he said. “But it’s that time, so there’s really nothing I can do about it. So let’s go out there and figure it out. First time with a mask. I threw it out the first workout. We got a new one, so this is the final version.”
While Cleveland welcomed back Mitchell, the Sixers are getting closer to having Embiid, who has been out since undergoing surgery to repair meniscus in his knee on Feb. 6. He has missed 28 games.
Embiid recently began on-court work and is traveling with the team. Nurse said the 7-footer is “progressing forward” and reiterated the expectation is that he'll be back for the playoffs.
Nurse didn't divulge any specifics about what Embiid is able to do at the moment, but added "he is at the point where he needs a few players out there to work against.”
Embiid looks anxious to play. During a timeout in the third quarter, the reigning league MVP, who sat on the bench in street clothes, borrowed the game ball and dribbled while both teams huddled.
UP NEXT
76ers: At Denver on Sunday, the first of five straight road games.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
CLEDG D. Garland
DM D. Mitchell
EM E. Mobley
GN G. Niang
IO I. Okoro
JA J. Allen
MM M. Morris Sr.
MS M. Strus
SM S. Merrill
TT T. Thompson
PHIBH B. Hield
CP C. Payne
KL K. Lowry
KO K. Oubre Jr.
MB M. Bamba
NB N. Batum
PR P. Reed
RC R. Council IV
TH T. Harris
TM T. Maxey
CLE/PHI the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur