Jared McCain drops 34 as the Sixers lose a hard-fought game to the undefeated Cavs

Another game, another career highlight for Jared McCain.

The Sixers threatened, but couldn't hand the Cleveland Cavaliers their first loss of the season, losing 114-106 on Wednesday.

In addition to the Big 3 missing this game due to injury, the Sixers were also without Andre Drummond today with an illness.

In her absence, McCain led the offense to a new career high, finishing with 34 points and 10 assists. He shot 12 of 26 from the field and 6 of 13 from three. Kelly Oubre Jr. finished with 20 points while Caleb Martin scored 18 points. Darius Garland led Cleveland with 25 points.

Here are some thoughts on the buzzer.

First quarter

• Unsurprisingly, the Sixers had a difficult time generating shots inside the three-point line. Eight of their first 11 shots of the game came from behind the arc. They floated the ball around enough to get some open looks and made enough of those threes to keep pace with the Cavs, who themselves weren't off to the best start.
• A big reason for this is that the Sixers had solid wing play in the quarter. Caleb Martin's disruptiveness on defense appears to have increased significantly in the last week or so. He had two steals early. Both he and Kelly Oubre Jr. hit a three-pointer each, which was a rare sight, and Oubre ended up dropping a few runners as well.

• As good as Guerschon Yabusele was, he just can't offer much in terms of rim protection. That meant Adem Bona had to play tonight, and he was fine for the first few minutes. The Cavs still got to the basket with relative ease, but somehow Bona played the final three minutes of the quarter without committing a foul. After shooting 57% from the field, the first game ended with a four-point lead for Cleveland.

Second quarter

• Jeff Dowtin Jr. started tonight after a tough night against the Knicks, going 0-3, and was replaced by Reggie Jackson in the second round. Jackson provided an immediate boost by knocking down his first three jumpers of the game as the Sixers started the quarter on a 12-1 run.

• Bona's first shift lasted about six minutes in total. Although he looked like a rookie in every way, he even seemed unsure about getting the evasive passes to the guards, but he had some strong moments. He put up a tough battle at the rim that forced Evan Mobley to miss everything. His only foul was rising to stop a Jarrett Allen dunk.
• McCain certainly seemed ready for his first NBA start. He led the Sixers at halftime with 16 and five assists. He had a harder time getting layups against these big guys, but he did pretty well with his jumps. It's difficult to find new ways to describe how surprisingly well he has performed in the first 11 games of his career. The Sixers went into halftime with a six-point lead.

Third quarter

• There was a jitteriness to the offense early in the second half that wasn't there in the first. McCain had a few turnovers and tried to be ambitious, and he dropped one pass. Kyle Lowry also had an ugly attempt to draw a foul. Less than four minutes later, the Cavs had regained the lead.
• Lowry started the season over 60% through three games, but is at just 11% in his last four games tonight. He was 0 of 6 from the field and 0 of 4 from three through three quarters. Jackson was a quick replacement for Lowry early in the third period. Lowry's shots will definitely balance out, but the dramatic swings may be difficult when he can't really score anywhere else at the moment.

• While it may have felt like the Sixers pushed McCain too hard, the minutes he checked out showed why. The half-court offense was a struggle, but for some reason the Cavs couldn't contain it. An Oubre putback layup with seconds left gave the Cavs a four-point lead after three.

Fourth quarter

• An impressive part of McCain's night was the assists he was able to score despite all the shots he took. He opened the fourth period with a really nice skip pass to Jackson that wiped out the three-pointer. McCain scored or assisted nine of the first 11 Sixers points of the quarter.
• Bona didn't end the night with any special highlights, but the fact that he wasn't a complete liability out there was a big help. He looked much more aggressive in trying to grab defensive rebounds than Drummond has so far this year. He finished the game with nine rebounds, which tied the team for the top spot.

• While Garland was busy all night, Donovan Mitchell had a bad night shooting. He was just 2 of 9 from three games before going down three straight times in the final minutes. As good as McCain was, there was too much firepower to overcome.
• The Sixers are back in action this Friday for more NBA Cup action. Their second game of the group stage is at 7 p.m. ET in Orlando against the Magic. Nick Nurse has already said that Joel Embiid and Paul George will be back in the lineup for this.