The Philadelphia 76ers dropped a tough game on Friday to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland's young star Jaylon Tyson poured in 39 points to pace Cleveland to a 117-115 victory.
Following the game, 76ers head coach Nick Nurse opened up about the team's performance in the loss.
“This one wasn't very good,” Nurse said, per NBC Sports Philadelphia.
"This one wasn't very good."
Nick Nurse evaluates how the Sixers' lack of execution late in games has caused them to fall short multiple times this season. | @Kia pic.twitter.com/iNsCJJQ1ea
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) January 17, 2026
Philadelphia dropped to 22-18 on the season with the loss. The 76ers allowed 33 points to Cleveland in the fourth quarter, to lose control of the game.
Nurse says that his team needs to clean up how they play in crunch-time situations.
“There's been a couple other ones where we could have executed some things. You know the game in Toronto we didn't get the ball in bounds, and we had a couple of guys with pretty simple plays to make and we didn't make them,” Nurse added.
The 76ers were led in the game by their star big man Joel Embiid. Embiid scored 33 points, while Tyrese Maxey added 22 for Philly. Four other 76ers players finished the game in double figures.
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Philadelphia has now dropped back-to-back games.
76ers struggled to make shots against the Cavaliers
Philadelphia struggled to get the ball in the net all night against Cleveland. The 76ers finished the game shooting just 37 percent from three-point range. Philadelphia also made just 47 percent of their overall shots, while the Cavaliers were better than 51 percent from the floor.
The defense was there for the club, however, as the 76ers forced 18 turnovers on Cleveland. That allowed Philadelphia to build a sizable lead in the fourth quarter. Things soon went downhill though as Cleveland went on a scorching 13-2 run in the fourth quarter to ultimately take the game.
Philadelphia's head coach must surely be disappointed with his team's play. The 76ers got throttled by Cleveland just a few days before losing to them again on Friday.
The 76ers need to shake this loss off quickly. Philadelphia next takes on the lowly Indiana Pacers on Monday.