The Philadelphia 76ers rallied from a 29-point deficit to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-106 on Thursday night, completing the largest comeback in the play-by-play era for Philadelphia and the largest blown lead in Cleveland’s history. The rally also marked the biggest comeback of LeBron James’ 24-year career.
The turning point came in the third quarter at Xfinity Arena. The Sixers trimmed the gap to 10, and Tyrese Maxey sealed the momentum shift when he caught a pass from James in transition and drilled a 3-pointer without taking a dribble. The shot forced a Cavaliers timeout, and Maxey sprinted toward the fans behind the scorers’ table and screamed as Jaylen Brown joined him in celebration.
“It was just a great moment,” Maxey said. Maxey led all scorers with 32 points and added six assists. “The crowd was into the game. We were just feeding off the crowd, feeding off our energy, feeding off our resilience.”
A rough first half
Two nights after opening the season with a win over the reigning champion New York Knicks, the Sixers looked outclassed from the opening tip. They turned the ball over, failed to get stops and missed layups. Brown managed just four points in his lowest-scoring first half at home since March 2025. Philadelphia committed 15 first-half turnovers, its most in a half since January 2024.
The Cavaliers took a 69-45 halftime lead, which tied their largest lead in a season-opening half in franchise history and matched their largest halftime advantage over the 76ers. Fans, many wearing white opening-night shirts printed with the roster and coach Nick Nurse’s name, booed loudly as the half ended.
Halftime adjustments and a third-quarter surge
Maxey said he challenged his teammates during the intermission. “I said, ‘Well, it’s time to see what we made of. Are we going to be some front-runners and only be happy when stuff is good? Or when stuff is bad, are we going to fight and be resilient?’ And we did that,” Maxey said.
The Sixers answered immediately. They opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run and outscored Cleveland 37-21 in the period, a stretch Brown described as a quarter that “shifted the game.” Philadelphia still trailed by eight entering the fourth, but it took the lead at the 6:54 mark when Joel Embiid hit a 16-foot jumper over Jarrett Allen. The Sixers never gave it back.
Nurse said his team struggled to defend Cleveland’s mid-pick-and-roll plays in the first half. According to GeniusIQ, the Cavaliers ran 27 direct picks in the first half and averaged 1.08 points on them. In the second half, they ran 20 and averaged only 0.56 points. Nurse shifted the defensive assignments, and the change worked. The Cavaliers scored just 37 points after halftime, and Donovan Mitchell, who had 30 points through three quarters, scored only two in the fourth quarter.
Players reflect on the win
Embiid said the resilience was different from what he has seen in his 11 seasons with the Sixers. “No shade to anybody that’s been here, but in the past, a lot of people would’ve just laid down and tried to move on to the next one,” he said. “Yeah, it was different. I said last game, after the game, it just feels different.”
Philadelphia turned the ball over only twice after halftime, compared with 15 for Cleveland. Maxey said the Cavaliers were “just punking us honestly” in the first half, and the Sixers “did a good job of playing back second.”
James cautioned that Philadelphia cannot count on rallies like this one. “You don’t want to rely on that,” he said, laughing. “I think it’s great to know deep down we’re not going to have that quit mentality … but you don’t want to put yourself in too many of those situations.”
The crowd’s boos gave way to loud cheers as the comeback unfolded. Embiid called it a “top-three” night of his career, and VJ Edgecombe said it was the best atmosphere he has played in as a professional. James called Philadelphia “one of the best sports cities.”
“I’ve been here for a long time. … I have no words,” Embiid said. “That was amazing.”