NBA Matchups: November 5

Man, this is a wild slate with a slew of Q tags and several teams on the back end of a B2B set. I still went pretty deep and will add more on the Injury Show later today.

PHI @ CLE | UTA @ DET | BKN @ IND | WAS @ BOS | MIN @ NYK | HOU @ MEM | NOP @ DAL | MIA @ DEN | SAS @ LAL | OKC @ POR | GSW @ SAC

Philadelphia 76ers (back end) at Cleveland Cavaliers

Team Totals: 76ers 112.3, Cavs 122.3

Injury Report: 76ers on a B2B, Darius Garland (Q, foot), Jarrett Allen (Q, finger), Sam Merrill (Q, hip)

76ers projected starters: Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Kelly Oubre Jr., Jabari Walker, Adem Bona

Cavs projected starters: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, De’Andre Hunter, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

Nurse quotes: Said Watford can do a little bit of everything and he’s still working up his conditioning, said Grimes executed the game plan to move the basketball and attack the space (VJ and Maxey as well), said Oubre was excellent at limiting MPJ and Oubre’s focus on defense really helped him on the other end, said it was great for Lowry to play to officially play in his 20th season, said Oubre tweaked his ankle but he was cleared to return (blowout).

Atkinson quotes: Said Donovan has so much to his game and he carried them against the Hawks, said he told Tyson that if he makes 40% from deep and he can guard his position he’ll be a $20 million player on his next contract, said they think Tyson can be a rotation player even when the team is healthy, said they really need to get to the rim more and he wants more balance on 3s vs. rim, said he liked Nance for the KP matchup and ideally he’s a 5 for them, said they would rather play Nance at the 4, said they want Mobley to be aggressive and they are trying to find a groove for him, said Porter Jr. is strong and his next step is to be more consistent, said they are still too perimeter-oriented, said Lonzo felt like he was really a part of the win and he’s still finding his footing with the team, said he is still trying to keep the minutes down, said “I believe in playing 10” even when they are short-handed.

Stats and Notes: 

*What the hell is wrong with the Cavs? They are ranked just 24th in offense, and they are leaning way too much on the 3-pointers right now. They have the highest 3-point rate in the NBA, and they are top six in both C&S and pull-up trey attempts. They have to get back to driving the ball more, and that should be open against a defense that should be much softer inside without Joel Embiid. Kenny Atkinson has to know this offense needs a revamp, and their guards should crush against a team that is giving up a boatload of PNR handler points and transition. For the Cavs on defense, they’re playing well on that end as a top-five unit on the year. A big reason why is that they are giving up the fewest transition points, and they’ve been able to protect the paint even with Jarrett Allen missing time — Evan Mobley is awesome. The 76ers are getting a lot of points from the perimeter, and the Cavs have been one of the better PNR handler defenses in the last year (top five so far this year).

*Joel Embiid should sit this one out to really push up the usage for the main guys. Tyrese Maxey continues to tear up the league and lit up the Bulls on his 25th birthday last night. Maxey has been unaffected by B2Bs, and he played 47 in the previous B2B game (which was OT). This matchup isn’t ideal because the Cavs have been the best team in the NBA in transition points against. They’ve also been an excellent PNR handler defense because of Evan Mobley. Maxey is still breaking the stats because of his ridiculous shooting, so he’s still firmly in play.

*VJ Edgecombe should get a ton of minutes to keep him in play, but teams are starting to pay more attention to him and aren’t leaving him open as much. Edgecombe will likely have Donovan Mitchell on him for a good chunk of his minutes, and the 76ers may choose to attack him with some G-G screens. He’s really expensive in DFS, so I’m not too excited about him.

*Kelly Oubre Jr. has to play a lot here because the 76ers have to use some of their PF depth to cover up the weak spot at C. He can always get hot, but I’m buying this Cavs defense. I’d rather get deeper somewhere else.