Philadelphia entered the contest boasting the premier record across the league, yet dropped to 8-2 following a heavy 119-95 defeat against the Cleveland Cavaliers in an NBA Cup group stage clash. Head coach Nick Nurse quickly shifted focus toward an upcoming Sunday fixture against the Chicago Bulls after watching his roster falter. “We were lacklustre and they were very, very good. And I think we expected them to be very good tonight considering that they had a couple tough losses in a row,” Nurse said. “We were not very good. Probably once in a while that’s going to happen. Important thing is that we get over it and bounce back on Sunday.”
The central storyline of the blowout revolved around LeBron James, who produced a remarkably cold shooting night on the court. Over 31 minutes of action, the 41-year-old managed a mere eight points alongside six turnovers, converting just three of his 12 field goal attempts while missing all four shots from beyond the arc. Such anemic scoring outputs are exceptionally rare for the superstar, marking just the tenth occasion in 1,630 regular-season appearances that he failed to reach double digits. “Definitely not feeling a good rhythm offensively,” James said. “We didn’t look like much offensively. We had a couple spurts, but too many turnovers on my behalf.”
During the offseason, the Akron, Ohio native opted to sign with Philadelphia rather than returning home to Cleveland for a third tenure. Home fans showered the four-time NBA champion with faint boos whenever he handled the ball throughout the opening half. Unlike his previous visit when the host franchise played an emotional video tribute showing his 25-straight points against the Detroit Pistons in Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference finals, no video tribute aired on this occasion. James, who captured a title with Cleveland in 2016, previously spent 11 campaigns with the organization
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