PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia 76ers pulled off a miraculous comeback on Thursday as they opened the home schedule with a bang. The Sixers rallied from 29 points down to knock off the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-106 and improve to 2-0 on this young season.
Joel Embiid finished with 24 points on 8-for-16 shooting along with seven rebounds while playing 34 minutes on the night. The big fella has played with a ton of talent throughout his career, but on a team this talented to be able to pull off a comeback of this magnitude? It's definitely a little different.
"Well, no, that hasn't happened," Embiid explained. "No shade to anybody that's been here, but in the past, a lot of people would've just laid down and tried to move on to the next one. But yeah, I think we got the talent. We’d like for us to not be in that position again in the first place, so we don't have to do it every night because that takes a lot of energy. But yeah, it was different."
What was a bit unique about this rally was the lack of 3-pointers. The Sixers shot just 7-for-28 from deep on the night and 3-for-13 in the second half when they outscored the Cavs 69-37. It was done with defense and superstars like LeBron James and Jaylen Brown making big plays.
"I said last game, after the game, it just feels different," Embiid added. "So yeah, we just got to stay healthy and keep working with each other. And then the crazy thing, looking at it, I think we probably only made three or four 3s in that run. It was putting our heads down, getting stops, getting to the rim. All those guys, everybody on the team, defensively picking up the ball. I mean, usually when teams make that type of comeback, it's a bunch of 3s. And I don't remember the last time I saw a team making that type of comeback just on 2s. And that was great to see."
There were a few moments when Cavaliers star James Harden was matched up with Embiid. Much has been made of the two's relationship after The Beard's questionable exit from Philadelphia early in the 2023-24 season, and it was certainly entertaining to see Embiid go at Harden in those matchups.
"Yeah, just rhythm," Embiid said of his offensive success. "I think, first game I was a little off. First half today, just still trying to figure out my spots. It almost feels like I haven't been healthy in so long that I forgot how to play basketball and when I'm extremely successful on the floor. So, still getting back in, trying to find that rhythm. And by the second half, got to my spot, made a few shots from there."
As far as their relationship is concerned, Embiid addressed that as well as he claims the two have patched things up.
"Me and James were great," Embiid finished. "We talked all night. So yeah, he's one of the best players, probably a top-three player I've ever played with. So yeah, he's great."
The Sixers will host the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday to begin a quick back-to-back.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: 76ers' Joel Embiid talks win over Cavs, relationship with James Harden