Diving deeper into Cavs opening-night collapse against 76ers

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ 2025-26 season effectively ended when they squandered a double-digit fourth-quarter lead to the eventual champions. Fittingly, they started this season by blowing a 29-point lead to a Philadelphia 76ers team that could become the eventual champions.

Three stars of the game

First star: Tyrese Maxey

32 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals

The Sixers came out flat and struggled to establish any kind of momentum after an emotional victory on Tuesday against the New York Knicks. They could’ve rolled over after they fell behind by 29 points, but their best player kept fighting.

Maxey’s energy and effort in the first half kept the game somewhat manageable. Then, his shot-making in the third and fourth quarters helped close the gap and get them over the hump.

LeBron James’s decision to go to Philadelphia was a bet on Maxey being ready to take the next step forward and become a top-tier star in this league. Through two games, he has to feel good about that gamble.

Second star: LeBron James

17 points, 5 assists, 10 rebounds, 3 steals

James wasn’t spectacular on the court. The days of him single-handedly taking over games are long behind him — yet few players influence winning more than he does.

LeBron used to control the game with the ball in his hands. He would dictate the matchup he wanted and bend his opponent to his will. Now, he does the same thing by being a chess master behind each move, without being the one actually making every play.

Here, James deferred to his teammates when he needed to, he told the defense where to go to take away Cleveland’s bigs, and he picked his spots to score when they were there.

The Sixers needed a steadying presence when things got tight. James provided that with consistent high-IQ plays on both ends. And in the process, he also showed why this Cavs team desperately needed James to choose them last summer.

Third star: Donovan Mitchell

32 points, 3 assists, 10 rebounds, 2 steals

Mitchell was phenomenal this game. He’s a world-class scorer who proved that once again in a showcase game. Thirty-two points on 19 shot attempts is impressive work, especially when you only take four three-pointers.

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Dud of the game

James Harden

16 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 6 turnovers

Talent hasn’t been an issue for the Cavs — a lack of composure in big moments has. The same thing could be said about Harden’s career.

Harden isn’t known for being a clutch player, but the Cavs hoped at the time of the trade that he could help organize the offense when things were getting away from them in big moments. Unfortunately for Cleveland, he didn’t do that in Game 1 against the Knicks and didn’t do that here in front of a raucous Philadelphia crowd.

The Cavs needed their point guard to settle the storm in the second half, yet he couldn’t. Harden turned it over four times in the final two quarters, and wasn’t an impactful scorer. On top of that, he wasn’t able to get the bigs involved at all after both Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley had tremendous first halves before disappearing from the offense. The blame for that falls squarely on the point guard.

One regular season game shouldn’t be a referendum on Harden or this team, but it’s difficult to ignore the pattern that’s been developing for years now.

Cavalier that deserves a shoutout

Mario Hezonja

10 points, 2 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals

Hezonja showed how useful he could be. He created mismatches in the post, leading to easy baskets whenever he got a smaller guard matched onto him. That opened up what was at times a stagnant offense.

On top of that, he held up well defensively as he used his frame to stay in front of opponents in space.

This was a solid debut for a player the Cavs hope can provide consistent bench contributions like this.

Play of the game

In the first half, the Cavs did a great job of recognizing mismatches and then continually exploiting them whenever they could. This was seen most in how they hunted Joel Embiid in the pick-and-roll, but it also came through in their insistence on getting the ball to their forwards when they had a mismatch in the post.

Here, Peyton Watson sees that Allen has a shorter Jaylen Brown on him and gets the ball to him quickly before Embiid can get back into the play and put a good contest on the shot.

On it’s on, this play isn’t spectacular, but it could be emblematic of an overall shift the Cavs are trying to implement. If you see a mismatch, exploit it.

Quote of the day

“We were anticipating and excited [to land James] and then you have that [news]. Having gone through free agency a lot, when you’re expecting something to happen and it doesn’t happen, that first day or two, you’re just like, you’re depressed, quite honestly. That’s the emontions of it.”

– Kenny Atkinson on LeBron James choosing the Sixers instead of the Cavs

The result of this game was also pretty depressing for the Cavs.

Stat of the Game

Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley combined for 18 shot attempts and 29 points in the first half. In the second half, they combined for just five shot attempts and three points.

Allen and Mobley were one of the main reasons the Cavs were up by double digits throughout the first half. Philadelphia didn’t have an answer for them inside, and the guards were consistently looking to get them the ball whenever they had an opening. And then in the second half, the guards seemed to forget that the bigs existed.

The Cavs have consistently been at their best when they’re forcing the ball inside to their bigs. Their three-point shooting and entire offense flow from playing inside out. When that goes away — as it consistently has late in big games — things can become far too stagnant offensively.

There’s no excuse for this team forgetting about the Allen and Mobley this far into this core’s time together.

This game will be remembered for the blown lead

The Cavs had a chance to make an emphatic statement against a Sixers team that should be a title contender. They also had an opportunity to prove to LeBron that he made the wrong choice by going to Philadelphia instead of heading back home.

For two quarters, it looked like they were going to deliver both fronts. They jumped out to a 29-point lead, showing everyone the immense talent that they have. Then, they confirmed why the national media didn’t take them seriously in the run-up to the season.

The Cavs can’t be trusted with leads in big moments. They showed us a preview of that last Christmas against the Knicks before repeating it in Game 1 of the Conference Finals. And now, they’re starting this campaign exactly where they left off the last one.

This isn’t a contrived narrative. It’s a reality the Cavs have created themselves, and only they can change.

Losing on opening night means very little in the grand scheme of things. However, how they lost does. Every time they drop a big game like this, it becomes that much easier to lose the next one.