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Monster comeback against the Cavs: LeBron’s Sixers win another top-of-the-table clash

Lesley Summerville

The Philadelphia 76ers turned a 29-point deficit into a victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid were the standout performers in the spectacular comeback.

In LeBron James’ first home game for the Philadelphia 76ers, the forward also experienced something that had never happened to him in his 23 years in the NBA. Shortly before half-time, the Sixers were still trailing by 29 points, and boos were already raining down from the crowd. By that point, the Sixers had already racked up 15 turnovers, five of which were down to James, who had a poor first half.

But after the break, the picture changed. LeBron was now finding ways to the basket, whilst the Cavs couldn’t hit a shot from distance. Nevertheless, it took until just under seven minutes before the end for Philadelphia to take the lead for the first time that evening. A mid-range shot from Joel Embiid (24 points, 8/16 FG, 7 rebounds) was part of a 15–0 run that turned the game on its head. Tyrese Maxey, in particular, impressed at both ends of the court.

The guard was once again the Sixers’ top scorer with 32 points (12/23 FG) and effectively sealed the win with a difficult floater just under a minute before the end. Shortly afterwards, LeBron stole the ball from Evan Mobley (18, 8 rebounds), whilst Jaylen Brown (21, 8 rebounds) picked up some easy points. James finished the game with 17 points (5/14), ten rebounds, five assists and three steals, and did not commit a single turnover after the break.

Cavs squander lead in Philadelphia

In fact, the Sixers conceded just two points after the break, which laid the foundation for their comeback victory. Cleveland, by contrast, committed 15 of 22 turnovers after the break; in particular, the stars James Harden (16, 5 assists, 6 TO) and Donovan Mitchell (32, 11/19 FG, 10 rebounds, 5 TO) were repeatedly forced into mistakes. As a team, the Sixers once again converted just 25 per cent of their three-pointers (7/28), whilst the Cavs were even slightly worse (7/29).

Mario Hezonja (10, 0/5 3P) played his part in this, yet it was a good NBA comeback in just under 19 minutes after more than six years in Europe. For Cleveland, it was their first game of the season; on Saturday night, the Cavs face the Brooklyn Nets at home. Meanwhile, the Sixers have two home games coming up: first against Milwaukee, and then a day later, on Monday night, against the Detroit Pistons.

In the second game of the night, the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets, though this brought to an end Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s run of scoring at least 20 points in every game, which had lasted almost two years.

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