November 06, 2026
Ken Blaze/Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
Philadelphia 76ers forward LeBron James (23) and Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden (1) watch a free throw during the first half at Rocket Arena.
CLEVELAND – As LeBron James played his first game in Cleveland as a member of the Sixers, it almost appeared as if the entirety of the crowd inside Rocket Arena donned one of his jerseys.
There were No. 23 Cavaliers jerseys of all colors and designs. There were St. Vincent-St. Mary High School jerseys. There were Miami Heat jerseys with the No. 6. There were Los Angeles Lakers jerseys, both with No. 23 and No. 6. And, yes, there were folks donning James' new Sixers jersey, too.
Unfortunately for the Sixers, James played his worst game of the season in his homecoming – and he was not the only one. Joel Embiid had an even harder time against a undermanned and undersized Cavaliers team while Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown submitted middling performances. VJ Edgecombe was the only player to bring it for the Sixers, and his strong two-way performance was not close to enough to combat the Cavaliers' balanced scoring attack.
The Sixers are 8-2 on the season (and 1-1 in NBA Cup Group Play). Takeaways from their first loss in 13 days, a 119-95 defeat:
Nobody knew exactly what to expect of the atmosphere on Friday. Would James be cheered or booed? Would it sound like a high-school crowd with an even split in terms of fan support? The only thing everyone could agree on: There would be a special buzz in the building.
"I imagine it's going to be very electric in there," Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said before the game. "We've been talking about it for a couple days, and should be a great energy and atmosphere in there. So, should be fun."
James has played more fun games than this one; the 41-year-old looked 41 years old in a bunch of respects on Friday. He committed two turnovers in the first quarter and another two in the second, all while failing to find any way to impact the game in half-court offense. He scored on one early post-up, but James largely failed to take advantage of the fact that he was significantly stronger than every defender tasked with defending him one-on-one.
Pummeling mismatches has given James his most productive offensive stretch as a Sixer by far in recent games, but none of the Sixers were able to impose themselves physically despite the Cavaliers replacing injured starting center Jarrett Allen with slight shooting specialist Sam Merrill in their starting lineup. It was particularly problematic for James, whose diminished burst was on display during some unsuccessful drives – and an attempt at his signature chase-down block which instead resulted in a goaltending violation.
On this Sixers team, James will always be at his best serving as a connector and playmaker for others first, with occasional doses of on-ball scoring depending on the matchup or game situation. His attempts to get going on Friday all failed; he routinely struggled finishing in traffic at the rim. James just does not have the ability to flip the switch on and go get a bucket whenever he wants anymore – likely a major reason why he joined a team with at least three players capable of doing just that. But none of his star teammates were able to take the torch from him in this one.
Describing Embiid as "out of sorts" during Friday's game would have been incredibly generous. Two nights removed from a game in which he shrugged off a bad start to dominate on the interior as a scorer and rebounder, Embiid never felt his way into this game at all.
Offensively, Embiid missed some shots he normally makes and took some shots he normally would not take. He was erratic with the ball and missed all of his nine field goal attempts. Embiid's ability to slow the game down and get easy points by drawing fouls is perhaps his ultimate gift, but when he leans too hard on it in an attempt to bail himself out of bad offense he runs into problems. Embiid would rightfully argue that Cavaliers defenders got away with extracurricular activity a few times, but he just did not present the right energy during this game.
On the glass and as a rim protector, Embiid did not look nearly as good as he did on Wednesday night in Detroit or many of his other recent outings. Matched up against an elite big athlete in Evan Mobley for much of the night, Embiid looked overwhelmed by all of Mobley's movements. Mobley relied on it more and more as the game went on because Embiid failed to establish any sort of counter for it. Even against Cavaliers backup center Thomas Bryant, Embiid did not seem to have enough juice for this game – and his jumper evading him has not helped matters.
"I'm very surprised by it," Nurse said of Embiid's shooting woes pregame. "I think he's a great shooter. I think he's probably, in my mind, he's almost upper 30s, even 40 percent three-point shooter, and he's certainly far away from that right now. He's a great shooter. He's got all the all the tools and things to be a great shooter. I would imagine that'll work itself out and level itself out as we go there."
Ultimately, Embiid being stout at the rim and suspect on his feet is not a death knell for the Sixers by any means. Him failing to generate any quality offense is. The Sixers no longer need him to carry a gargantuan offensive workload – at least on most nights – but they do need him to punish single coverage. He had nothing for any of Cleveland's defensive efforts on Friday.
Up next: The Sixers will conclude their three-game road trip on Sunday afternoon when they aim for their second win in a week over the Chicago Bulls.
