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| Lebron James; AI |
Twenty-four seasons into his career, LeBron James is not supposed to have any firsts left. He found a big one on Thursday night. In his first home game as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, James helped dig his team out of a 29-point hole to stun the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-106 at Xfinity Mobile Arena — the largest comeback in 76ers history in the play-by-play era (since 1996-97) and, remarkably, the biggest comeback win of James' entire career, topping the 25-point rally he led against Indiana back in 2017.
LeBron James and the 76ers Booed Off the Floor in a Nightmare First Half Against Cleveland
For 24 minutes, the home opener was a disaster. Cleveland stormed to a 35-18 lead after one quarter, and the Sixers kept handing the ball back: 15 first-half turnovers, sloppy enough that James himself committed five of them while missing four of his six shots. Donovan Mitchell poured in 22 of his 32 points before halftime as the Cavaliers stretched the lead to 29 and took a 69-45 cushion into the locker room.
The home crowd let its new team hear it, booing the Sixers off the floor late in the second quarter. A two-handed dunk from James brought a brief roar, but at halftime the most expensive ticket in the building — lower-bowl seats were listed around $4,000 on resale markets — was buying a blowout loss to the franchise James used to carry.
Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid Spark the 15-0 Run That Completed the 76ers Comeback Win
The second half was a different sport. Philadelphia opened the third quarter with an 11-0 spurt, needing just 78 seconds to slash the deficit to 13, with James finding Joel Embiid for a layup and adding an and-one of his own. Tyrese Maxey kept attacking — his layup with 5:42 left in the third pulled the Sixers within 10 — and Philadelphia crept to 84-82 before two late Mario Hezonja bank shots sent Cleveland into the fourth up 90-82.
The finish belonged to the new-look Sixers. Embiid's running floater cut it to 95-94 with 7:20 left, and his 15-footer on the next possession gave Philadelphia its first lead of the night. Jaylen Brown, also making his home debut, scored the next six points and Maxey added a bucket to cap a 15-0 run and a 104-95 lead. Cleveland clawed within 106-102, but Mitchell missed two free throws, Maxey and Brown scored on the next two trips, and the comeback was complete: a 69-37 second half, an eight-point win, and a 2-0 start for a team that beat the champion Knicks in New York two nights earlier.
Maxey finished with 32 points and six assists and played the defensive role of the night, hounding former Sixer James Harden (16 points) — the two even went nose-to-nose in the fourth before being separated. Embiid had 24 points, Brown scored 21 with 17 of them after halftime, and Evan Mobley added 18 for Cleveland, which wasted its season opener despite leading by 29.
LeBron James' Stat Line in His Philadelphia Home Debut: 17 Points, 10 Rebounds, and a Little History
James' line was not the loudest on the team — 17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, three steals, and a block — but the context is the story. This was the team he nearly rejoined: James flirted with a third stint in Cleveland during free agency before signing a two-year veteran-minimum deal with Philadelphia to chase a fifth championship ring. Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson admitted before the game that James' decision left him "just depressed, honestly" for the first couple of days. One of James' four titles came with Cleveland. On Thursday, his old team gave him 29 points of head start — and still lost.
What LeBron James Said After the Game: "It Was Everything That I Dreamed Of"
Asked about a night that swung from boos to bedlam, James — via PHLY Sports and the postgame pool — loved every part of it: "It was everything that I dreamed of and more. We got the boos. That was amazing, and we deserved it. And then we got the cheers and almost blew the roof off this thing tonight, in a good way. It was a hell of a night."
On the first-half mess, he pointed to a roster still learning itself: "We're still new to each other. We had some turnovers that were kind of unforced. We had some moments with an open look, and we didn't take it. That will happen early in the season. As we continue to build our offensive sets and our defensive sets, we will have some bumps in the road." And on what changed after halftime: "Tonight we knew we gave them some pick-sixes in the first half and we gave them offensive rebounds. We cleaned that up in the second half, and that's the sign of a good team."
He also made clear the Sixers cannot make a habit of this: "You don't want to rely on that. I think it's great to know deep down we're not going to have that quit mentality. You never want to look around and say guys gave up. But you don't want to put yourself in too many of those situations." Head coach Nick Nurse, who called it "kind of a wild way to win a game," was at least pleased the team hit its minutes targets for James and Embiid.
Two games in, the James-Brown-Embiid-Maxey experiment has a road win over the defending champions and the biggest comeback in franchise history. If this is what the bumps in the road look like in Philadelphia, the rest of the Eastern Conference should be nervous.
**Labels to add:** LeBron James, Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA, Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown, comeback win
