James revels in home debut as 76ers rally from 29 down to beat Cavaliers 114-106

LeBron James described his home debut as "everything that I dreamed of and more" after the Philadelphia 76ers overcame a 29-point deficit to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, one of James' three previous franchises, 114-106 in an NBA game on Thursday night. It was the largest comeback win of James' 24-season NBA career and the biggest rally by the 76ers in the play-by-play era, which began in 1996-97.

Philadelphia left the court to boos after trailing 69-45 at half-time but mounted a dramatic second-half recovery. The 76ers took the lead for the first time with just under seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, fuelled by a 15-point unanswered run that put them 104-95 ahead. Cleveland narrowed the margin to 106-102, but Philadelphia had outscored their visitors 69-37 in the second half.

James contributed 17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals in the comeback. Jaylen Brown finished with 21 points, 17 of them in the second half, including 10 in the fourth quarter. Tyrese Maxey top-scored for the Sixers with 32 points, with Joel Emiid adding 24.

Reflecting on the crowd and the finish, James said: "We got the boos. That was amazing and we deserved it. And then we got the cheers and almost blew the roof off this thing, in a good way. It was a hell of a night," and joined the 76ers on a two-year contract.

He had already helped the Sixers to victory on opening night, when Philadelphia defeated the New York Knicks 106-100 to spoil the defending champions' homecoming. However, he also had to respond to criticism from President Donald Trump, who labelled the 41-year-old a "total disgrace" for not standing still during the national anthem before Tuesday's win over the Knicks.

"It must be a slow news day at the office," said James on Thursday night. Sixers coach Nick Nurse said his side are used to tuning out such distractions, adding: "I think that goes right in with other outside noise we've already had. "I keep saying the same thing. All I really care about is getting to the practice floor, getting them in the film room, getting them to the game floor. The focus that they've had and the intent has been outstanding."

The comeback capped a stirring start to James's time at his fourth franchise, following the Sixers' opening-night 106-100 victory over the New York Knicks.