The Cleveland Cavaliers underwent a brutal collapse against the Philadelphia 76ers in their second game of the season. The Cavs were leading by as many as 29 points in the second quarter, but Tyrese Maxey led a major comeback as the Cavs ended up losing 114-106.
And while it may be very early into the season, ESPN’s Michael Wilbon is already counting the Cavs as one of the teams he does not trust in the Eastern Conference.
“If we list the teams I don’t trust in the NBA, particularly in the Eastern Conference, in terms of getting into a scrap, a scrap in April-May, the Cavaliers are on top of the list,” he said. “How can you trust them with what we have seen Brian even though they have spent the offseason doing exactly what they need to do. It’s only one game, we don’t want to go crazy, but they look like they did nothing in the offseason.”
Maxey finished the night with 32 points and six assists off 12-23 shooting while Joel Embiid had 24 points and seven rebounds. Jaylen Brown had 21 points and eight rebounds while LeBron James finished with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds.
For the Cavs, Donovan Mitchell top-scored with 32 points and also had 10 rebounds, with James Harden finishing with 16 points and five assists, going just 5-12 from the field. Harden was also involved in a shoving match with former teammate Maxey in the fourth quarter.
LeBron completed the largest comeback win of his career as Philadelphia opened the third quarter with a 10-0 run, and the fourth with a 15-0 run. The 76ers have now opened the season with wins over the New York Knicks and the Cavs.
Cleveland fell apart in the third quarter and were tame on defence as the 76ers responded to the early deficit with a huge uptick in intensity. The Cavs will now host the Brooklyn Nets at Rocket Arena on Friday, and will hope to get their first win of the season.