PHILADELPHIA — After a gut-punch of a loss Friday night, Sixers star Tyrese Maxey took to the podium to address the media, detailing what went wrong in their 117-115 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Philadelphia has lost six of their last seven against Cleveland, including three times this season. Historically, the matchup favors the Cavaliers, and the Sixers are aware of their struggles.
"I mean, as of right now, it looks like it," Maxey said of the Cavs being a difficult matchup for the Sixers. "[We're] 0-3 versus them. So we're trying to find different ways to figure out the double big lineup, the double guard lineup with [Donovan Mitchell] and [Darius Garland] and then sometimes [Craig Porter Jr.] and [Jaylon Tyson]. So as of right now, I guess they got to be right? We're 0-3 versus them, and it's been difficult for us to beat them."
It's not often a team gets the opportunity for two straight against the same opponent, especially when their opponent is a conference rival fighting for playoff positioning. After being blown out on Wednesday, the Sixers approached Friday's game with a plan in place to prevent the Cavs from succeeding the way they did in their previous matchup.
"It's a fine line of it," Maxey said. "We kind of treated tonight, kind of like a playoff game. Like, last game was Game One, and then tonight, shoot, sometimes the playoff games, you just say, 'Listen, this guy can't beat us tonight.' And that's what we did. We made somebody else beat us, and [Jaylon Tyson] did. I mean, he made shots. He played really well. So definitely, it's a fine line, but we know he shoots; like now it's gotta be at least [48 percent] from three. So, it’s difficult."
Fans around the league may not be overly familiar with Jaylon Tyson, but the 20th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft has followed up a successful rookie campaign with a stellar sophomore performance, averaging 12.8 points and 5.3 rebounds while becoming one of the league's elite three-point threats, averaging 45.8 percent from deep on over four attempts per game coming into Friday night's performance, now 47.5 percent after a 7-9 shooting spectacle from beyond the arc — not quite 48 percent, but we'll round up Tyrese.
The Sixers will remain in Philadelphia over the weekend and will hope to bounce back against the Indiana Pacers, who they will host on Monday.
