NBA roundup: 76ers make history with incredible comeback against Cleveland, SGA wins battle of the MVP's

The Philadelphia 76ers erased a 29-point deficit to stun the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-106 on Thursday in NBA superstar LeBron James's first home game since landing in Philly as a free agent.

Philadelphia 76ers 114-106 Cleveland Cavaliers

Tyrese Maxey scored 32 points and Joel Embiid added 24 -- including a jump shot with 6:54 left to play that gave the Sixers their first lead of the night, one they wouldn't relinquish.

Former Celtics star Jaylen Brown, the Sixers' other big off-season acquisition, scored 21 points and pulled down eight rebounds and four-time NBA champion James added 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists to help the 76ers author their biggest comeback of the play-by-play era that started in 1996.

It was also the biggest comeback of James's storied career. The league's all-time leading scorer called it a good win -- but not a position he wants to be in often.

"You don't want to rely on that," he said. "I think it's great to know (that) deep down we're not going to have that quit mentality. You never want to look around and say guys gave up.

"But you don't want to put yourself in too many of those situations."

Cleveland, disappointed not to land hometown hero James after he announced he was leaving the Los Angeles Lakers after eight seasons, appeared to be on a mission to show him what he missed.

James won one of his four championships with Cleveland, and Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson admitted before the game that James's decision to pursue a fifth crown with the 76ers left him "just depressed, honestly" for the first couple of days after the move was announced.

But he had reason to be pleased with the Cavaliers' start to their first game of the new season.

Donovan Mitchell scored 22 of his 32 points in the first half as the Cavs seized control against a 76ers team struggling to find a rhythm and protect the ball.

Philadelphia center Joel Embiid looked creaky, and James had five of the Sixers' 15 first-half turnovers -- which led to 22 Cavs points and provoked boos from Philly fans whose hopes of a title run have been raised by the arrivals of James and Brown.

The boos turned to raucous cheers as the re-energized 76ers opened the third quarter on an 11-0 run. They cut the lead to single digits on back-to-back baskets from Maxey that pulled them within 80-73.

The Cavs were struggling to regroup. Maxey reduced the deficit to two points with a running finger roll layup with 2:33 left in the third before Cleveland reeled off six straight points to take a 90-82 lead into the fourth quarter.

But the 76ers kept coming. They out-scored the Cavaliers 60-37 in the second half, clamping down defensively and giving up just two turnovers.

Evan Mobley scored 18 points for Cleveland but had just three in the second half Jarrett Allen scored 14 but was held scoreless after the break.

"We stayed together, that's the main thing," Sixers guard VJ Edgecomebe said. "When it got worse we could have given up, we didn't. It's an early season test, early season adversity, and we overcame it."

Oklahoma City Thunder 96-84 Denver Nuggets

The Oklahoma City Thunder got their 2026/27 campaign started with a statement win over the San Antonio Spurs, and with another heavyweight clash on deck for Thursday, reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander once again had a statement to make.

However, SGA wasn't the story of this one for Oklahoma City, as he ended the night with just 17 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists, but instead, it was the depth of the team that kept them in it against a tough Denver Nuggets team in the first half. From there, the Thunder pulled away, outscoring the Nuggets by 16 in the second half, with Jalen Williams' 21 points leading all OKC scorers, with two others scoring in double digits on the night.

The team getting the win will be the most important part for Gilgeous-Alexander, but this does end his incredible streak of 20+ point games, with the 17 seeing that run come to an end at 141 straight games, an amazing run for the star guard.

On the other end of the floor, the best work that OKC did on the night was limit three-time MVP Nikola Jokic's scoring opportunities, making him struggle at 5-19 from the field on the night, and while he facilitated well with 5 assists, clearly, the Thunder's physicality just wore him down as the night went on. Despite Jokic's quiet night, the Nuggets stuck with OKC all night long, with a combined 33 from Aaron Gordon and DeMar DeRozan having Denver in positions to get back into the game in the fourth quarter.

While the Thunder have one of the toughest schedules to open the season, they've been stellar thus far, with the win now taking them to 2-0 on the season as they cruised to the 12 point victory in their home opener as they look to get back to the NBA Finals after being crowned Champion in 2025.