76ers come back from 29 down to beat the Cavaliers 114-106 in their home opener

Joel Embiid caught a pass from Tyrese Maxey, rose from 16 feet and put the Philadelphia 76ers ahead 96-95 with 6:54 left. It was their first lead of the night. Just over 18 minutes of game clock earlier, they had been down 69-40.

Philadelphia beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-106 on Thursday in its home opener at Xfinity Mobile Arena, in front of 21,423. The 76ers were down 29 with 1:12 left in the second quarter and won the second half 69-37.

Maxey scored 32 points in 42 minutes. Embiid had 24, and 15 of them came after halftime. Jaylen Brown scored 21, 10 of them in the fourth quarter. Donovan Mitchell matched Maxey with 32 points and had 10 rebounds for Cleveland, which was playing its first game of the season.

Down 29

For a half, this was Cleveland's night. The Cavaliers scored first, on a four-foot driving hook by Jarrett Allen, and the 76ers did not lead at all until the fourth quarter.

The crowd booed James Harden from the Cavaliers' first trips down the floor and cheered LeBron James, playing his first regular-season home game as a 76er.

A 12-0 run in the first quarter turned an 11-11 tie into a 23-11 lead. Evan Mobley dunked, Harden drove for a layup, Sam Merrill hit a three, Mobley scored again and Harden hit from 27 feet. Mitchell ended the quarter with a 28-foot step-back three with 0.4 seconds left: 35-18.

It got worse for Philadelphia in the second. Mobley scored 11 in the quarter, and Mitchell hit a 27-foot step-back three with 1:34 left. His short jumper 22 seconds later made it 69-40.

The run that crossed halftime

The comeback started with 49 seconds left in the half, and it did not stop at the break.

VJ Edgecombe scored, and Embiid hit a 24-foot three from Maxey with 0.7 seconds on the clock. It was 69-45 at halftime.

Then the 76ers scored the first 11 points of the third quarter. Brown hit a three. Edgecombe scored and made the free throw. James scored, was fouled and made his free throw too. Embiid finished a layup from James. In the first 1:18 of the second half, a 24-point game became 69-56, and the run was 16-0.

Peyton Watson ended it with a driving layup at 10:22. Cleveland's first points of the half had taken 1:38.

Maxey's third quarter

The Cavaliers steadied, and Mobley's dunk and free throw made it 80-66 with 6:58 left in the quarter. Then they did not score for 3:20.

Philadelphia scored 11 straight. James started it. Maxey scored on a pass from Brown, hit a 27-foot running three from James, and made two free throws. James made two more. It was 80-77.

James scored 10 of his 17 points in the third quarter. Maxey scored nine. The 76ers won the quarter 37-21, and Cleveland led only 90-82 after three, on a short jumper from Mario Hezonja with 8.9 seconds left.

Embiid takes the lead, Brown takes the game

Harden's 25-foot pull-up three made it 95-89 with 8:37 left. Cleveland did not score again for 4:47.

Embiid scored the next seven points by himself. He hit a turnaround jumper, was fouled by Mobley and made the free throw. He scored on a floater from Brown to make it 95-94. Then came the 16-footer from Maxey and the lead.

Brown took it from there. He hit a 20-foot fadeaway at 6:08, drove for a layup at 5:26 and hit a 10-foot pull-up at 5:00. Cleveland called timeout down 102-95. At 4:12, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope stole Harden's pass, and Maxey scored from his assist. The run was 15-0, and the lead was nine, the biggest the 76ers had all night.

Harden's last push

Cleveland had one more answer. Watson scored from Harden at 3:50, and Harden hit a 26-foot three from Mitchell at 2:51. It was 104-100.

Embiid answered with a 16-foot fadeaway at 2:23. Philadelphia then won a coach's challenge at 2:12: the call was overturned to an offensive foul on Harden. Harden made two free throws at 1:47 to make it 106-102. At 1:19, Mitchell went to the line with a chance to make it a two-point game and missed both. Maxey's 11-foot floater at 1:03 pushed it back to six.

James stole the ball from Mobley, and Brown scored from Edgecombe with 44 seconds left. Harden and Mitchell kept scoring, but the 76ers scored on each of their last four trips: the Maxey floater, the Brown basket, two Maxey free throws, and Brown's driving dunk, again from Edgecombe, with 21.1 seconds left.

Harden scored 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. He also had six of Cleveland's 21 turnovers.

What it means

For Philadelphia, it is two wins in three nights. The 76ers opened by winning 106-100 at Madison Square Garden on the night the Knicks raised their title banner. Their home crowd's first look at this team was a 29-point hole and a 69-37 second half.

The fourth quarter belonged to Embiid and Brown, with nine and 10 points. Maxey played 42 minutes and handed out six assists. James, who played 11 seasons in Cleveland, had 17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals against his old team. Edgecombe had 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals, and set up Brown's last two baskets.

Cleveland won 52 games last season and looked like it for a half: 69 points and a 29-point lead. The second half was 37 points. Cleveland had won all four meetings between the teams last season, including two in Philadelphia in January, by 133-107 and 117-115. The Cavaliers made 15 of their 21 turnovers after halftime. Allen scored 14 points, all before the break. Mitchell scored 22 in the first half and two in the fourth quarter. Harden, who played for the 76ers in 2022 and 2023, went 5 of 12 with six turnovers against his old team.

Both teams made seven threes, Philadelphia in 28 tries and Cleveland in 29. The 76ers outscored the Cavaliers 64-60 in the paint and made 23 of 30 free throws.

Scoring

Philadelphia: Tyrese Maxey 32, Joel Embiid 24, Jaylen Brown 21, LeBron James 17, VJ Edgecombe 11, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 3, Jabari Walker 2, Adem Bona 2, Anfernee Simons 2.

Cleveland: Donovan Mitchell 32, Evan Mobley 18, James Harden 16, Jarrett Allen 14, Mario Hezonja 10, Peyton Watson 8, Sam Merrill 5, Jaylon Tyson 3, Craig Porter Jr. 0, Tyrese Proctor 0.

By quarter: Philadelphia 18, 27, 37, 32. Cleveland 35, 34, 21, 16.

What is next

The 76ers stay home for two games this weekend: the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, October 24, and the Detroit Pistons on Sunday, October 25, both at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Cavaliers open at home against the Brooklyn Nets at Rocket Arena on Saturday, October 24, at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Philadelphia's opener: the 76ers beat the Knicks on banner night.

Later on Thursday, the Thunder beat the Nuggets 96-84.

Update: the 76ers beat the Bucks to go 3-0 and the Cavaliers held off the Nets in Saturday's roundup.