The Philadelphia 76ers were 29 points down and being booed by their own fans in the first half on Thursday night. By the end of the night, they had beaten the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-106.
Philadelphia outscored Cleveland 69-37 after half-time to complete the biggest comeback in the club’s history in the play-by-play era, which began in 1996. Tyrese Maxey led the way with 32 points.
It was also the biggest comeback win of LeBron James’s long career. James, playing his first home game for the 76ers, finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
A first half to forget
Cleveland started the game at full speed. The visitors led 35-18 after the first quarter, with Donovan Mitchell scoring freely.
Mitchell scored 22 of his 32 points before half-time. At the break, Cleveland were ahead 69-45, and their biggest lead of the night had reached 29 points.
Philadelphia’s problems were mostly their own. The home side gave the ball away 14 times in the first half, shot poorly from three-point range, and heard boos from a packed crowd that had come expecting a party.
The fightback
The game flipped almost as soon as the second half began. Philadelphia needed just 78 seconds of the third quarter to cut the gap to 13.
Maxey’s layup brought the 76ers within 10 points midway through the quarter. Cleveland still led 90-82 going into the fourth, thanks to two late bank shots from Mario Hezonja, but the momentum had clearly changed sides.
Joel Embiid, who scored 24 points, took over late. His running floater cut the lead to 95-94, and his jump shot on the next play gave Philadelphia their first lead of the night with just under seven minutes left.
Jaylen Brown then scored six quick points, and Maxey added another basket to finish a 15-0 run that made it 104-95. Cleveland got back within four points near the end, but Mitchell missed two free throws, and Maxey and Brown scored again to close the game out.
A record night for the new stars
The game was the first home appearance for James and Brown, the 76ers’ two big summer signings. Brown scored 21 points, 10 of them in the fourth quarter.
James, who is 41, joined Philadelphia on a two-year deal at the veteran minimum after eight seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. He had been linked with a third spell in Cleveland, the city where he won one of his four NBA titles, but chose the 76ers as he chases a fifth championship ring.
The rivalry boiled over once. Maxey and James Harden, his former Philadelphia team-mate who now plays for Cleveland, went nose to nose in the fourth quarter and had to be separated.
Afterwards, James said the team cannot keep depending on comebacks like this one. Still, he said, the fightback showed the group does not know how to quit.
Why it matters
Philadelphia have opened the season by beating the NBA champion New York Knicks on the road and now the Cavaliers, who reached the Eastern Conference finals last season, at home. Few teams could ask for a stronger start.
For Cleveland, it was a painful way to open their season. Mitchell had 32 points and 10 rebounds, Evan Mobley added 18, and Harden and Jarrett Allen scored 16 and 14, but a 29-point lead still slipped away.
Early-season games do not win titles, but this one will be remembered. A comeback this big, this early, has already set the tone for what Philadelphia believes can be a special season.
