Now in his 24th season in the NBA, LeBron James doesn’t get to have very many “firsts” at this stage of his career. As his new teammate Tyrese Maxey astutely pointed out after the game, “he’s played a lot of basketball. A lot of basketball. So he’s seen a lot of scenarios.”

He hasn’t seen that.

When the Sixers completed their 29-point comeback win over the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers, their second straight win to start the season over an Eastern Conference contender, the Sixers accomplished something that nobody on that floor, even someone who has played professional basketball for nearly a quarter of a century, has ever accomplished.

Beyond being the biggest comeback in LeBron James’ storied career, it was also the largest deficit that the Sixers have successfully overcome in at least the play-by-play era (since 1996-97), with the Sixers entering last night 0-156 in games where they trailed by 29 points. It was the first time that the Cavs have lost a game when winning by 29 or more, having won their previous 155 games with a 29+ point lead in the play-by-play era. Across the league, teams had won 466 consecutive regular season games when leading by 29 or more points, per Tim Reynolds.

“I don’t think we got a locker room full of lay down guys, and there’s a lot of game to be played,” LeBron James said of the comeback. “We answered the call.”

Comebacks are on the rise in the NBA, thanks in large part to the combined effects of an increased pace of play and, especially, the dramatic rise in 3-point shooting over the last decade.

Most of the recent massive comebacks have been driven by a barrage of 3-point shooting. For example, when the Celtics game back from 32 points down to defeat the Spurs in 2021 they shot 12-17 from 3-point range in the second half to secure the win. The Knicks shot 11-20 from 3-point range in the second half (compared to just 3-17 for the Spurs) when they completed their 29 point comeback in Game 4 of the NBA Finals last June.

The 3-ball is typically the driving force in most of these memorable nights, but that wasn’t the case for the Sixers last night, who shot just 3-13 from deep in the second half of their historic comeback.

“It was all putting our heads down, getting stops, getting to the rim at will,” Joel Embiid said of their second half comeback. “Usually when teams make that kind of comeback, it’s a bunch of 3s. I don’t remember the last time I saw a team making that type of comeback just on 2s.”

Rather than relying on an out-of-body shooting display to propel them to glory, the Sixers instead leaned heavily on the fundamentals: a stout defense, dominating the possession battle to the tune of a 15-2 edge in second-half turnovers, while limiting the Cavs zero second chance points, all of which sprung a deadly transition attack that punished a Cleveland defense that very rarely had a chance to get set after intermission.

Basically, everything the Sixers didn’t do in the first half.

All against a team that won 52 games and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals last season.

Obviously, at some point it would really help the Sixers to make shots from the perimeter, as they’ve connected on just 26.5% of their looks from deep over the first two games of the season.

But the ability to refocus at halftime and win with fundamentals and attention to detail, against a quality opponent, for a team that had played all of one game together, is a wildly impressive feat of mental fortitude and determination that bodes well when projecting forward to high-stakes playoff basketball.

“There’s going to be ups and downs all year long. How we respond is going to be 80% of the battle,” Jaylen Brown said after the game. “It’s a good sign that we came out [strong]. Being down 30, we coulda been pointing fingers. [But] we got after it. I like that.”

Sixers fans packed the arena for the most anticipated home opener recent memory, likely since the Sixers began their defense of the Eastern Conference crown all the way back in 2001. For the first 24 minutes of play, it looked like the fans would not be rewarded for their enthusiasm, and that the party we all expect in south Philadelphia would have to be delayed a few more days.

But the 21,423 fans in attendance all stayed in the building after intermission, despite the poor first half performance, and it took all of one Jaylen Brown corner 3 to start the second half to get them back on their feet, a buildup that would eventually reach a deafening crescendo a few minutes later.

“That was probably a top-5 night for me since I’ve been in Philadelphia,” Embiid said after the game.

As a reward for their loyalty the Sixers delivered one of the most improbable comebacks in team history, dialing the town’s enthusiasm for the local basketball team up to 11, and setting the stage for what should hopefully be an incredible eight months of NBA basketball.

“It was everything that I dreamed of, and more. Got the boos. That was amazing. We deserved it. And then we got the cheers and almost blew the roof off this thing tonight,” LeBron James said of his first experience playing in front of the hometown Philadelphia crowd.

For the second consecutive game, the defense provided enough of a boost so that the lagging offense could catch up, with the 20 fast break points the Sixers scored in the second half providing a springboard to get Tyrese Maxey (32 points, six assists), Joel Embiid (24 points, including seven straight in the fourth to take the lead) and Jaylen Brown (21 points, including six straight to take control of the game) back in rhythm.

Big takeaway

In order to complete a comeback as substantial (and as improbable) as the one the Sixers pulled off last night, you typically need one of two things to play out: go supernova from deep, or dominate the possession game. Honestly, you typically need both.

The Sixers have been top-10 in taking care of the basketball in each of the last three seasons (including the stingiest turnover team in the league back in 2023-24, the last time Embiid and Maxey were reasonably healthy), so the Sixers finding their composure and committing just two second-half turnovers wasn’t a huge shock. Impressive and necessary, sure. But they’ve shown they have the capability of doing that in the past.

The defensive rebounding through two games, however, is quite the stunner.

The Sixers have been one of the five worst defensive rebounding teams in each of the last three seasons, with the combined loss of Ben Simmons’ unique skill sets, coinciding with the knee injuries that took away a good chunk of Joel Embiid’s mobility and lift, dooming them to regularly being trounced on the glass.

“One thing that I feel like I lost in the last three years that I haven’t been healthy is I feel like i just forgot the feel of rebounding and positioning, so that’s something that I’m working on,” Joel Embiid said after the game when talking about his improvement on the defensive glass. “I missed so much time that it’s taking me a while to put myself out there and be like, okay, this is what you’re doing, this is what you’re used to doing, and get comfortable and get back to it.”

But through two games so far this year the Sixers are somehow a top-10 defensive rebounding team in the league, collecting a defensive rebound on 75.5% of the missed shots that they force. With the starting lineup on the floor together the Sixers have had a decided edge on the glass, picking up offensive rebounds on 26.5% of their missed shots, compared to an offensive rebounding rate of just 16.7% for the opposition. That’s especially impressive considering the Knicks and Cavs were both top-10 offensive rebounding teams in the league last season.

With the defensive rebound comes transition scoring opportunities, and the ability to unleash their deadly transition attack, without compromising their defense by over-extending themselves in pursuit of steals, would be an incredible boon for a team that has frequently played a very high risk, high reward brand of defense under head coach Nick Nurse.

“The names don’t matter. We’re all trying to win. So when we see a loose ball on the floor, it’s first one to it,” Tyrese Maxey said of the team dominating the possession battle in the second half.

When you think of a super team coming back from a massive deficit to steal a game, you typically envision an overwhelming offensive attack, a team with so much talent that it’s impossible to contain them. Neither of the Sixers’ two wins, both over Eastern Conference contenders, have even remotely fit that mold. Instead, they won with defense, intensity, attention to detail and dominating the margins, stuff that super teams typically lose focus on.

But if they can win through grit and determination, and the offense starts to click and they begin to overwhelm teams with sheer talent and offensive firepower? There could be a lot of fun nights in south Philadelphia in the coming months.

Stat of the game

Stat – Zero combined points off turnovers and second chance points for the Cavs in the second half.

I truly cannot remember a Sixers team ever accomplishing that feat, and certainly not a team that has four of their top seven players having never played together before this week. They should be out of sync. They should be out of rhythm. They should be missing defensive rotations and pointing fingers. Instead they locked in against a 50-win team and made an epic comeback by playing mistake free basketball.

Imagine what happens when they actually know how to play alongside of each other (and make a few perimeter shots along the way as well).

Quotables

“We just really were out of total sync to start the game. Turnovers, and just a lot of one pass, freeze…We just couldn’t get ourselves going.” — Nick Nurse, on the team’s first half struggles.

“He seemed to take a level of confidence or maturity jump. Without a bit of arrogance, it just feels like he’s so sure of what he can do.” — Nick Nurse, on Tyrese Maxey’s growth.

“They weren’t really break situations, but they were moving, the [Cavs] defense weren’t set.” — Nick Nurse, on what changed in the team’s second half offensive execution.

“That’s kind of a wild way to win a game. Just, absolutely two halves that don’t resemble each other at all. But they’re 48 minute games. We just talked about we gotta come out and make a physical improvement, and an effort improvement, and see where it takes us.” — Nick Nurse, on the team’s improvement in the second half.

“You don’t want to rely on that. It’s great to know what we got deep down, that we’re not gonna have that quit mentality. You never want to look around and be like, okay, guys gave up. So it’s great to know that we got that. But you don’t want to put yourself in too many of those situations.” — LeBron James, on the comeback.

“To be able to have moments like this, in this building, in this city, probably one of the best sports cities in the world…I’m happy to be here. I’m extremely happy to be with these boys in this locker room, and hopefully we can continue to do something special throughout the season.” — LeBron James, on making his Philadelphia debut.

“Just still trying to figure out my spots. It almost feels like I haven’t been healthy in so long that I forgot how to play basketball, and where I’m extremely successful on the floor. So still getting back and trying to find my rhythm, and by the second half I got to my spots, made a few shots.” — Joel Embiid, on finding his rhythm in the second half.

“No shade to anybody that’s been here, but in the past a lot of people would have just laid down and tried to move on to the next one…It just feels different [this year].” — Joel Embiid, on whether he’s ever experienced a comeback like that.

“We didn’t really talk a lot at halftime. We just knew what we had to do: taking care of the ball, that was one. And two, just being a little bit more aggressive on defense. That’s what we did. That’s the good thing about having a veteran team, you just understand how the game is going, what you have to do, and you go from there. Tonight was amazing.” — Joel Embiid, on the discussions at halftime when down 24.

“We just know that was not us in the first half. Too many silly turnovers, careless turnovers. Wasn’t rebounding, wasn’t playing defense well. But we know that we’re gonna face a lot of adversity this year, and that was one of them. It’s all about how we respond.” — VJ Edgecombe, on coming back from the 29-point deficit.

“Bron elbowed me in my face…Nah, I’m good man. I’m blessed. Thank god it’s nothing bad. But if it was, he can buy me a new nose.” — VJ Edgecombe, on his bloody nose.

“I’ll be honest, my head was hurting, and I couldn’t see, for real. But I knew I had to [stay in]. I mean, I can walk. I can shoot. I can see a little bit for right now, I’m gonna play. That’s just who I am. I’m gonna play regardless.” — VJ Edgecombe, on staying in the game after his bloody nose.

“They were just way, way, way tougher than us in the first half. Took the ball from us. They were just punking us, honestly. We did a good job of playing better the second half.” — Tyrese Maxey, on what changed in the second half.

“My only message that I had is I said, well, let’s see what we’re made of. Are we gonna be some frontrunners and only be happy when stuff is good, or when stuff is bad are we gonna fight and be resilient? We did that.” — Tyrese Maxey, on his message to the team at halftime.

“He told y’all he was All-Defense. He can be right after me.” — Tyrese Maxey, on Joel Embiid’s defensive performance.

“Just needed to play harder. I think they were outplaying us in the first half. We were watching the game too much, kinda looking around, waiting for somebody else to do it…I think that was just a testament of the resiliency of this group. It’s a good sign, but we got a lot to work on.” — Jaylen Brown, on what changed in the second half.

Press conferences