November 5, 2026 at 6:53 AM UTC
Pregame AnalysisCavaliers Look to Steady Themselves Against East-Leading Sixers
Cleveland's home bounce-back bid meets a Philadelphia team that has won four straight.
This page is the pregame analysis. The box score is the main page for the game, and the matchup history collects every meeting between these teams.
Philadelphia arrives at 7-1, atop the East, and riding a four-game winning streak. The Sixers' James-Brown-Embiid-Maxey-Edgecombe starting five played together again in a 126-107 win over Chicago. Dominick Barlow, who has not played this season with a lower-back stress reaction, is the only player on their injury report, so the roster is otherwise intact.
The biggest question is Joel Embiid. He is playing through plantar fasciitis on a minutes restriction, and Nick Nurse says the pain comes and goes. Against the Bulls he played 24 minutes and scored 15 points, while every other starter logged more than 30. That puts extra weight on Tyrese Maxey, who scored 15 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter and added 11 assists. LeBron James also contributed 15 points, nine assists and seven rebounds as a playmaker. Philadelphia can win with a limited Embiid, but it needs the perimeter group to carry the load for long stretches.
Cleveland is 4-3 and coming off a 117-112 loss to Oklahoma City, in which Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 43. Donovan Mitchell had 17 points and 11 assists in that game. The Cavaliers played it without point-of-attack defenders Peyton Watson (hamstring) and Jaylon Tyson (ankle), which pushed Meleek Thomas and Mario Hezonja toward bigger roles. Their availability will shape how well Cleveland can pressure Maxey and James.
Philadelphia has the better record and plenty of momentum. Still, Cleveland should be motivated at home after an upset loss, and Embiid's minutes cap leaves the Sixers short in the stretches when he sits. I expect a close game that Cleveland edges late.
Prediction: Cavaliers 114, 76ers 111.