PHILADELPHIA, United States, October 22, 2026: The Philadelphia 76ers spent the first half giving Cleveland the ball and the second half taking away its game. Tyrese Maxey scored 32 points as Philadelphia erased a 29-point deficit to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-106 in Thursday’s NBA home opener at Xfinity Mobile Arena, completing the franchise’s largest comeback of the play-by-play era and moving to 2-0.
Joel Embiid’s seven consecutive fourth-quarter points put Philadelphia ahead, Jaylen Brown supplied three straight baskets, and a 15-0 run transformed a 95-89 deficit into a 104-95 lead. The revealing number sat behind the stars: VJ Edgecombe finished with seven rebounds, six assists and three steals, helping the Sixers turn a 69-45 halftime hole into a 69-37 second-half advantage.
How Philadelphia Turned Two Losing Quarters Into a Record Rescue
The NBA’s official game record captures the scale of the reversal. Cleveland won the opening quarter by 17 points and the second by seven and entered halftime with a 24-point lead. Philadelphia then won both remaining quarters by 16. The Sixers’ improvement continued across the entire second half, giving their late run a platform.
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 35 | 34 | 21 | 16 | 106 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 18 | 27 | 37 | 32 | 114 |
Donovan Mitchell had 22 points by halftime, and Cleveland’s lead reached 29 in the second period. Philadelphia’s 37-point third quarter reduced the gap to 90-82 before the fourth began. Cleveland still had room to escape, particularly when James Harden’s transition 3-pointer made it 95-89 with 8:37 remaining.
That was where Embiid changed the terms. At 8:15, he converted a turnaround jumper and the accompanying free throw. He scored again at 7:24, then hit a 17-foot jumper at 6:54 to give Philadelphia its first lead, 96-95. Brown followed with a fadeaway at 6:08, a driving layup at 5:26 and a pull-up jumper at 5:00. Maxey’s transition finish at 4:06 completed the 15 unanswered points.
The 32-Point Swing Was Built Across 24 Minutes
TSE’s calculation from the official quarter scores shows the difference between the size of the early deficit and the size of the response. Philadelphia went from losing the first half by 24 to winning the second by 32. Subtracting Cleveland’s 37 second-half points from Philadelphia’s 69 produces the decisive plus-32 margin, which converted minus-24 at halftime into plus-eight at the finish.
| Phase | PHI Points | CLE Points | PHI Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| First half | 45 | 69 | -24 |
| Second half | 69 | 37 | +32 |
| Full game | 114 | 106 | +8 |
The result follows Philadelphia’s 106-100 opening win over the Knicks, but the route was different. This time the starting five had to repair a substantial breakdown before it could close. TSE’s earlier examination of how Philadelphia’s five-star lineup would share one basketball acquired a practical answer: Embiid established the lead, Brown extended it, and Maxey finished possessions that mattered.
Key Performers: Maxey Set the Pace, Edgecombe Connected the Pieces
Maxey shot 12-for-23, added six assists and two steals, and logged 41:39. His defensive pressure on Harden gave Philadelphia another way to influence the game when jump shots failed. The Sixers finished just 7-for-28 from three, making this a comeback built largely inside the arc rather than a sudden barrage of long-range makes.
Embiid finished with 24 points and seven rebounds. Brown scored 21, including 10 in the fourth, and added eight rebounds and four assists. LeBron James supplied 17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals in his regular-season home debut for Philadelphia.
| Player | MIN | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaylen Brown | 37:43 | 21 | 10-20 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| LeBron James | 33:22 | 17 | 5-14 | 1-4 | 6-7 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| Joel Embiid | 34:23 | 24 | 8-16 | 1-4 | 7-9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| VJ Edgecombe | 33:13 | 11 | 4-11 | 1-4 | 2-3 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Tyrese Maxey | 41:39 | 32 | 12-23 | 2-7 | 6-8 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | 24:55 | 3 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Anfernee Simons | 16:42 | 2 | 0-4 | 0-4 | 2-3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Adem Bona | 13:37 | 2 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Jabari Walker | 4:26 | 2 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Edgecombe’s 11 points were the smallest total among the starters, but his work connected the lineup. He tied Maxey for the team lead in assists, matched James’ three steals, and delivered the final pass for Brown’s late layup and closing dunk. Philadelphia outscored Cleveland by 19 while Edgecombe played, the same on-court margin as Maxey. Single-game plus-minus cannot isolate individual defensive value, but the rebounds, assists and steals make his contribution independently visible.
The five starters produced 105 of Philadelphia’s 114 points, or 92.1 percent, calculated as 105 divided by 114. That is both a measure of their responsibility and a reminder that the argument around the Sixers’ starting five will also depend on what the rest of the rotation can provide.
Why Cleveland Could Not Finish the Job
Mitchell’s 32 points and 10 rebounds gave the Cavaliers enough individual production to win. Evan Mobley added 18 points and eight rebounds, Jarrett Allen had 14 and seven, and Harden finished with 16 points and five assists. The problem was preserving those contributions under sustained pressure.
| Player | MIN | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peyton Watson | 30:27 | 8 | 2-7 | 0-3 | 4-4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Evan Mobley | 34:00 | 18 | 7-13 | 1-4 | 3-3 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Jarrett Allen | 28:13 | 14 | 6-10 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Donovan Mitchell | 35:11 | 32 | 11-19 | 2-4 | 8-11 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| James Harden | 32:55 | 16 | 5-12 | 3-6 | 3-4 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Sam Merrill | 24:16 | 5 | 2-5 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jaylon Tyson | 23:59 | 3 | 1-6 | 0-4 | 1-2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Mario Hezonja | 18:38 | 10 | 5-13 | 0-5 | 0-0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Craig Porter Jr. | 7:30 | 0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Tyrese Proctor | 4:51 | 0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Harden committed six turnovers, Mitchell five and Peyton Watson five. Those three players accounted for 16 of Cleveland’s 21 player turnovers. Harden’s costly pass was intercepted by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope before Maxey completed the 15-0 run. Later, with Philadelphia ahead 106-100, a successful Sixers challenge produced an offensive foul and another Harden turnover.
Cleveland nevertheless drew within 106-102. Mitchell then missed two free throws with 1:19 remaining. Maxey answered with a floater at 1:03, and James’ steal from Mobley led to Brown’s layup with 44 seconds left. The official play-by-play shows that Philadelphia still needed execution after its main scoring run had ended.
| Statistic | Cleveland | Philadelphia |
|---|---|---|
| Field goals | 39-87 (44.8%) | 42-92 (45.7%) |
| Three-pointers | 7-29 (24.1%) | 7-28 (25.0%) |
| Free throws | 21-28 (75.0%) | 23-30 (76.7%) |
| Rebounds | 46 | 44 |
| Assists | 18 | 24 |
| Steals | 10 | 10 |
| Blocks | 7 | 2 |
| Player turnovers | 21 | 16 |
| Additional team-only turnovers | 0 | 1 |
The table leaves a fair debate. Philadelphia’s ability to manufacture quality late possessions deserves credit, while Cleveland’s ball security and missed free throws explain how an initially dominant performance unraveled. The Cavaliers’ offseason decisions to retain Harden and bring Watson into the starting lineup now face the ordinary test of turning roster plans into reliable closing possessions.
What Comes Next for the 76ers and Cavaliers?
Philadelphia improved to 2-0; Cleveland began 0-1. The Sixers next host Milwaukee on Saturday, October 24, then Detroit on Sunday, October 25. Cleveland’s home opener is Saturday against Brooklyn. For the wider calendar, see TSE’s 2026-27 NBA schedule guide.
Continue the NBA Story
The official box score lists Philadelphia’s Dominick Barlow, Tacko Fall and Ariel Hukporti, and Cleveland’s Khalifa Diop and Nae’Qwan Tomlin, as inactive because of injury or illness. It does not supply diagnoses or return dates. The game recap identifies no new major in-game injury, so no injury count or recovery timeline is inferred here.
Philadelphia’s next question is whether it can keep the same possession quality for four quarters without first requiring a rescue. Cleveland must show that its opening-half control can survive pressure late. A second extraordinary Eastern Conference recovery, after Detroit’s 23-0 run against Boston, is an entertaining start to the season, though neither losing team will find much comfort in the comparison.
76ers vs Cavaliers: Quick Answers
What Was the Final Score?
Philadelphia beat Cleveland 114-106 on October 22, 2026, at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
How Large Was Philadelphia’s Comeback?
The Sixers trailed by 29 points in the second quarter. The NBA identified the victory as their largest comeback of the play-by-play era.
Who Led the Scoring?
Tyrese Maxey and Donovan Mitchell each scored 32 points. Joel Embiid added 24 for Philadelphia.
When Did the Sixers Take Their First Lead?
Embiid’s jumper with 6:54 left in the fourth quarter put Philadelphia ahead 96-95, according to the official play-by-play.
Statistics and scoring sequences were checked against the NBA’s game record, official player box scores and play-by-play. Phase margins and the starters’ scoring share are TSE calculations from those figures. The featured image is an original editorial graphic, not game photography.
