'We deserved to win that game': Cavaliers move forward to Magic after tough loss to 76ers

Lamar Stevens felt sore as he walked from the Cavaliers locker room at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse down a hallway to a designated media room Sunday night.

Stevens was tired as he took a seat and prepared to reflect on a tough 112-108 loss to the visiting Philadelphia 76ers.

About 35 minutes had passed since the Cavaliers and 76ers competed in a physical April NBA regular-season matchup that resembled a playoff game.

Bodies were falling on the floor for loose balls or from hard fouls.

The sellout crowd of 19,432 was intense as center Joel Embiid and guard James Harden led the Sixers to a victory that clinched a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

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"It was very physical. My body is hurting right now," Stevens said after totaling 18 points, three blocks, three rebounds and two assists as a reserve in 27 minutes.

"That is how it is. Coach always talks about getting us ready for playoff environments and that is what it is going to be when we get there. It is all preparation, learning and experiences for us to get better when we get our opportunity in the playoffs."

The Cavs, who are trying to hang onto the No. 7 play-in spot ahead of Atlanta, Brooklyn and Charlotte, have three games remaining in the regular season.

"He gave us a great spark," Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of Stevens. "He was physical, he was determined, he was assertive and aggressive on both sides of the ball. He brought an energy and a scrap that gave us a big boost."

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Darius Garland scored 23 points, Caris LeVert contributed 18 points and seven assists and Lauri Markkanen had 16 points and seven rebounds for the Cavs, who played once again without injured 7-foot starters Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.

"I felt like we played hard enough to win," LeVert said. "I felt like we played a pretty complete game offensively and defensively. There was a lot of adversity that we fought through for sure, but I think if we keep that same effort and that same focus that we have for 48 minutes we will be all right. ... That was a playoff [type of] game, atmosphere, intensity, physicality. It is good for us to feel that right now."

LeVert praised Stevens for giving "great energy" and "executing."

'We deserved to win that game'

Bickerstaff was very critical of the officiating after Embiid and Harden combined to shoot and make more free throws than the entire Cavs team.

Embiid finished with 44 points in 38 minutes, making 17 of 20 free throws and 12 of 26 field goals, including 3 of 6 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Harden scored 21 points in 41 minutes, making 11 of 12 free throws and 4 of 13 field goals, including 2 of 7 from 3-point range.

The 76ers finished 35 of 42 from the free-throw line and the Cavs went 23 of 31.

"We deserved to win that game,” Bickerstaff said. "That game was taken from us. We deserved to win it. We did a great job defensively of making their two best players have a difficult time from the field. The one thing you can't defend is the free-throw line. That's absurd. That's absurd. Our guys deserved way better than what they got."

Embiid added 17 rebounds, five blocks and three assists. Harden grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 10 assists to record his second triple-double with Philadelphia.

Stevens, who is 6-8 and 225 pounds, said running into the 7-foot, 280-pound Embiid is like running into "a truck."

"That is the biggest person I have seen in my life that can move that well," Stevens said.

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Bickerstaff said he respects Embiid or Harden as players, but was upset with the discrepancy in fouls as Cleveland was called for 28 and Philadelphia was whistled for 19.

“They’re great players and they understand how to play through the rules,” Bickerstaff said of Embiid and Harden. “They know how to manipulate the rules. This is no knock or disrespect on those guys, but the game has to be consistent on both ends of the floor. There is contact on one end and it is a foul, and if there is contact on the other end it has be a foul.

"We were searching for that consistency, and I don't think we ever found it.”

Embiid was questionable coming into the game with a sore ankle, but the 7-footer played like an MVP candidate. Embiid is in the MVP conversation along with Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and Luka Dončić of the Dallas Mavericks.

“If it happens, great,” Embiid said of potentially winning his first MVP. “If it doesn’t, I don’t know what I have to do. I’ll feel like they hate me. I feel like the standard for guys in Philly or for me is different than everyone else.”

Embiid is second in the NBA in scoring at 30.2 points per game. LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers is the NBA's scoring leader at 30.3 points and Antetokounmpo is third at 30.1 points.

"He is a great player. There is no doubt about that," Bickerstaff said of Embiid. "Not many people going one-on-one can stop him and guard him. I thought our guys did a great job of making it difficult, making him take shots that he was not comfortable with."

Added LeVert: "Embiid is hard to guard at that size and with his skill set, but those guys [Markkanen, Moses Brown, Kevin Love and Ed Davis] fought hard all night."

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'Darius was fouled'

The Cavs trailed 107-106 Sunday when Bickerstaff thought Garland drew contact from Embiid while missing an off-balance layup with 15.2 seconds left.

“Darius was fouled,” Bickerstaff said. “It's simple. He was fouled. He did his job, got to a spot and got fouled. No whistle.”

Despite the frustration, Bickerstaff was pleased with how his players competed.

"Our guys kept their composure," Bickerstaff said. "Our young guys understood the moment. They didn't allow anything to deter them or distract them from trying to get the job done. ... Our guys scrapped, clawed, fought and played with purpose. We did a great job. It didn't show in the results obviously the way we wanted, but our guys played a [heck] of a basketball game."

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Rajon Rondo returns; Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley 'still progressing'

Reserve guard Rajon Rondo returned to the court Sunday after being out with an ankle injury since March 12. Rondo made two 3-pointers and had two assists in 14 minutes.

Bickerstaff said Allen and Mobley are "still progressing" toward being back in the lineup. Allen missed his 15th consecutive game Sunday with a broken finger and Mobley sat out his fourth consecutive game because of a sprained ankle.

The Cavs hit the road for games at Orlando on Tuesday and at Brooklyn on Friday.

Cavs vs. Bucks

The NBA announced Sunday night that the Cavs' regular-season finale at home against the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks will tip off at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: 'We deserved to win': Cavaliers move forward after loss to 76ers