CLEVELAND — The Philadelphia 76ers came into Friday night with the league’s best record and left Rocket Arena on the wrong end of a 24-point blowout. Donovan Mitchell scored 23 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers held LeBron James to eight points in his return to Northeast Ohio and rolled to a 119-95 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in an NBA Cup group stage game.
Cleveland set the tone early. Mitchell rattled off seven quick points to start, while the Cavaliers’ defensive intensity gave them opportunities to run in transition. That two-way combination fueled a 27-12 start for the Cavs. Philadelphia won the second quarter 32-29, and a 17-point first half from VJ Edgecombe led the way for the Sixers. But Cleveland outscored the Sixers 57-41 after halftime, and their biggest lead was 25 points in the fourth quarter.
A rough night for LeBron
James chose Philadelphia in the offseason instead of a third stint in Cleveland, and Cavs fans let him hear about it. James received a smattering of boos from Cavaliers fans every time he touched the ball during the first half and left the game with 3:54 remaining. The Akron native finished in single digits for just the 10th time in 1,630 NBA regular-season appearances, going 3-for-12 from the field and 0-for-4 from three, with six turnovers.
“Definitely not feeling a good rhythm offensively,” James said afterward.
Sixers’ stars go cold
Jaylen Brown led Philadelphia with 20 points, VJ Edgecombe scored 19 and Tyrese Maxey had 17. Joel Embiid missed all nine of his shots from the field but was 6 of 6 from the line. Maxey shot 5-for-15. As a team, Philadelphia shot 36.5% from the floor and just 10-for-40 (25%) from three.
Cleveland controlled the glass, winning the rebounding battle 56-42, winning both the defensive boards (42-32) and offensive boards (14-10). The Cavs also outscored the Sixers 50-32 in the paint and got 44 bench points to Philadelphia’s 25.
For Cleveland, Evan Mobley added 22 points on 8-for-13 shooting, and former Sixer James Harden had 17. Bench contributions from Mario Hezonja, Peyton Watson, Thomas Bryant and Meleek Thomas helped the Cavaliers control the game.
Up next
The 76ers entered the game with the NBA’s best record but fell to 8-2. This was their second loss in a row. The Sixers stay on the road Sunday at Chicago, with tip-off at 3:30 p.m., before coming home Tuesday to host Boston.
