Jan. 17, 2026, 10:26 a.m. ET

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers are sitting at 22-18 following Friday’s 117-115 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Sixers held an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter at 100-89, but they were unable to hold off the Cavs as they had their struggles on both ends of the floor.

This is yet another game the Sixers were unable to close out. They held late leads in both of their losses to the Detroit Pistons, both of their losses to the Chicago Bulls, both of their losses to the Toronto Raptors, and now in the loss to the Cavs on Friday. If the Sixers could just handle their business in these close games, their record would be much better than what it is.

After the loss, Joel Embiid lamented the blown leads and the inability to close out games after the latest one.

“I mean, we got a long way to go, but we got to close these games,” a somber Embiid said. “We’ve had a lot of games that we probably wish we could take it back. I felt like tonight was one of those. Having the lead most of the game and then them making a run at the end. That’s happened to us a few times. So, yeah, just get locked in and keep getting better. Learn from it.”

The Sixers were outscored 33-24 in the fourth quarter as the Cavs shot 6-for-9 from deep. Embiid only scored two points in the fourth as Cleveland neutralized him a bit and the Sixers were unable to truly get much going. That has been a theme in losses such as this one.

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“We’ve got plenty of them,” added Tyrese Maxey. “We’ve had plenty of them. I think seven or eight this year, where we just had in our hands and then slip away. Two Detroit games up in the fourth quarter, let them slip away. Chicago, same thing. Two of those games let them slip away, and Toronto as well. Both times. Here and there. Had them beat kind of then let the game slip away. It’s probably more. Just those are the ones that come on top of my head, but those hurt.”

The Sixers are almost at the halfway point in the season–they will hit it with Monday’s matchup with the Indiana Pacers. There is still a ton of time to get this all figured out and move forward, but at the moment, it’s been tough sledding in these close games

“It’s OK,” Maxey finished. “Gotta keep going. We got 42 more? 42 more games, so can’t dwell in it.”