Cavaliers Suffer Historic Blown Lead Against 76ers in Opener

The Cleveland Cavaliers suffered a historic blown lead against the Philadelphia 76ers in their season opener on Thursday night.

Despite leading the game by 29 points at one point, the Cavaliers ultimately lost in shocking fashion when the 76ers came back and beat them 114-106.

Cavaliers Suffer Historic Upset Loss

Per NBA writer Tim Reynolds, this was a historic loss for Cleveland, as it was their biggest blown lead in the play-by-play era (since 1996-97).

It was also the first time that Cleveland had lost a game since 1996, when they had led by 29+ points, as the team had been 155-0 in such games in the past 30 years.

“Sixers trailed by 29 and won … – Biggest comeback win for LeBron – Biggest Philly comeback/Cleveland blown lead of play-by-play era (since 1996-97) – Cleveland was 155-0 since ’96 in such games, Philly 0-156 – NBA teams had won 466 straight with 29-pt leads in regular season.”

Kenny Atkinson’s Job Could Be on the Line

This was an absolutely devastating loss for Cleveland, which looked like it would take out the superteam that is the 76ers in a road upset in their first game of the season when they went up by 29 points.

Instead, the Cavaliers ended up losing the game, and now there are calls from fans all over social media for Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson to be relieved of his duties.

Atkinson had already been on the hot seat in the eyes of the fans, as the Cavaliers haven’t had much playoff success in recent years despite a stacked roster and one that is among the most expensive in the NBA.

But the team chose to hold onto him after last season’s playoff disappointment and keep him on as the team’s coach.

Of course, Atkinson is not going to lose his job as Cleveland’s coach after just one game to start the season. But he certainly needs to be wary, as any more of these types of emotionally devastating losses could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and makes the Cavaliers’ front office consider a change behind the bench, as these types of historic blown losses just don’t happen often in the NBA.

This article was originally published on HEAVY

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