The Philadelphia 76ers staged a stirring rally Thursday to beat Cleveland 114-106 after coming back from 29 points down in LeBron James’ first home game since his arrival in free agency.
Tyrese Maxey added 32 points for the Sixers, who also got 24 points from Joel Embiid and the jump shot that put the Sixers ahead for good with 6:54 to play.
Jaylen Brown scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while James had 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in what was Philadelphia’s largest comeback since play-by-play stats began in 1996.
It also was the biggest comeback of James’ career. But the four-time NBA champion said that his team needed to avoid being in such frustrating spots so frequently.
“Don’t want to rely on that,” James said. “I think it’s nice to know deep down we’re not going to have that quit mentality. You don’t want to look around and say guys quit.”
“But you don’t want to find yourself in too many of them.”
Cleveland looked eager to ruin James’ homecoming debut after the superstar departed the Los Angeles Lakers after eight seasons in search of another title in Philadelphia.
Mitchell finished with 32, including 22 in the first half, to take advantage of the sixers’ early lags and 15 first-half miscues.
But the Sixers shot back after the interval, uniting with an 11-0 run to open the third quarter before Maxey had reduced the disadvantage to two points towards the end of the quarter.
Cleveland sped away early in the fourth quarter to outscore Philadelphia 60-37 in the second half, with only two turnovers.
Cleveland’s Evan Mobley had 18 points, and Jarrett Allen scored 14, but both couldn’t keep it going after halftime.
Meanwhile, the Oklahoma City Thunder recorded their second win in as many matches after beating the Denver Nuggets 96-84.
Jalen Williams had 21 points for Oklahoma City. Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 17 points, snapping his streak of 141 straight games with 20 or more points.
Nikola Jokic was off offensively for Denver, converting only five of 19 shots from the field but getting five assists.
The Thunder’s defense came through in the end, as they pulled away in the second half for the 12-point win.
Philadelphia will look to riding a comeback will carry over to a big season, while Oklahoma City will try to keep the winning ways going as they look to defend their NBA crown.
