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The Philadelphia 76ers pulled off the largest comeback in franchise history Thursday night, wiping out a 29-point deficit to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-106 at Xfinity Mobile Arena. The win moved Philadelphia to 2-0 on the young season, building on an opening-night road victory in New York.
The Sixers trailed by as many as 30 points before a dominant third and fourth quarter flipped the script entirely. Facing the Cleveland Cavaliers, who advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals a season ago, Philadelphia outscored its opponent 69-37 in the second half to complete the rally. It’s an early signal of the gauntlet awaiting teams in a stacked Eastern Conference this year.
Philadelphia opened its campaign with a win over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden before Thursday’s comeback effort against Cleveland. Tyrese Maxey led all scorers with 32 points, while four other starters finished in double figures. Joel Embiid added 24 points, LeBron James contributed 17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals, Jaylen Brown chipped in 21 points and eight rebounds, and VJ Edgecombe posted 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.
“There’s a lot of things that we can learn from 96 minutes of our existence playing together, offensively, mentally, things that we’ve done well, things we didn’t do well,” James said. “Every opportunity we hit the floor or watch film, we have to learn from that. We have to put our minds and souls into it. It’s definitely a marathon.”
Starting Five Carries Philadelphia Through the Second Half
Philadelphia’s starting unit controlled the final two quarters from start to finish. The Sixers trimmed a 69-45 halftime deficit down to a one-possession game with 3:59 remaining in the third quarter, then kept pushing.
Embiid’s basket with 6:54 left in the fourth quarter gave Philadelphia its first lead of the night at 96-95.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to respond to adversity,” Brown said. “It’s going to be ups and downs all year long. How we respond is going to be 80% of the battle. It’s a good sign that we came out being down 30. We could have been pointing fingers. We got after it. I like that.”
The starters accounted for 64 of Philadelphia’s 69 second-half points.
“That’s kind of a wild way to win a game, to get just absolutely two halves that don’t resemble each other at all,” said Sixers coach Nick Nurse. “But at least it’s a dig-in, 48-minute game. We just talked about it. We got to come out and make a physical improvement and an effort improvement and see where it takes us. Then all of a sudden, you get yourself right, you can at least see where you got a chance to maybe get back in it.”
James Delivers in His Philadelphia Debut
At 41 years old, James made his home debut for a fourth different franchise. He soaked in every moment the crowd gave him.
“It was everything that I dreamed of and more,” he said. “Got the boos, that was amazing. 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.”
The victory marked the biggest comeback win of James’ career. His wife Savannah and daughter Zhuri, who celebrated her 12th birthday that night, were courtside for the occasion.
“It’s great to be able to go out and just do what I love to do and just be well received,” James said. “Daughter was here. I told her happy birthday on the Jumbotron, and she sat courtside. It was super cool, man. Super special for me to be able to have moments like this in this building, in this city, one of the best sports cities in the world along with a couple other cities. It’s damn sure right up at the top. I’m happy to be here, extremely happy to do it with the guys in this locker room and hopefully we continue to do something special throughout the season.”
Two games into the season, James looks like a player who can still contribute across the board, including on defense, without needing to shoulder the entire offensive load.
Turnovers Nearly Sank Philadelphia Early
The Sixers committed 11 turnovers in the first 13 minutes alone, gifting Cleveland a 17-0 edge in points off turnovers. A late second-quarter Maxey turnover led to a Donovan Mitchell three-pointer, stretching that margin to 22-6 and giving the Cavaliers a 67-39 lead.
Some of those miscues trace back to roster chemistry. James, Brown and the rest of the starting five had played just one regular-season game together before Thursday’s contest. Figuring out spacing, timing and who initiates the offense takes repetitions.
“Those are little things that we still are working on, and we’ve still got to figure out,” Brown said. “It’s good to figure it out and win at the same time.”
Cavaliers Couldn’t Sustain a Fast Start
Cleveland was one of two teams without a game in the season’s first two days, and that hunger showed early. Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson noted his group was eager to get on the floor against an opponent before tip-off.
The second half told a different story, as the Cavaliers turned the ball over repeatedly while Philadelphia’s pressure intensified.
“They upped their pressure and physicality. It was pretty clear,” Atkinson said. “We did not handle it well. But I’ll take away that on the road, hostile crowd, we gave ourselves a chance despite what happened in the second half.”
Donovan Mitchell poured in 20 of his team-high 32 points before halftime and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Evan Mobley finished with 18 points and eight rebounds.
Read also: LeBron James Enters Year 24 With the 76ers, Chasing History by the Numbers
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