LeBron shrugs off Trump blast in home debut win for Philadelphia 76ers

LeBron James enjoys 114-106 NBA triumph implicit Cleveland Cavaliers, hours aft disapproval from US President Donald Trump.

The Philadelphia 76ers erased a 29-point shortage to stun the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-106 connected Thursday successful NBA superstar LeBron James’s archetypal location crippled since landing successful Philly arsenic a escaped agent.

The triumph came lone hours aft LeBron was slammed by US President Donald Trump, who accused the NBA fable of disrespecting their nationalist anthem successful a crippled earlier this season.

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Tyrese Maxey scored 32 points and Joel Embiid added 24 – including a leap changeable with 6:54 near to play that gave the Sixers their archetypal pb of the nighttime – 1 they wouldn’t relinquish connected the mode to an epic comeback.

Former Celtics prima Jaylen Brown, the Sixers’ different large off-season acquisition, scored 21 points and pulled down 8 rebounds and four-time NBA champion James added 17 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists to assistance the 76ers writer their biggest comeback of the play-by-play epoch that started successful 1996.

It was besides the biggest comeback of James’s storied career. The league’s all-time starring scorer called it a bully triumph – but not a presumption helium wants to beryllium successful often.

“You don’t privation to trust connected that,” helium said. “I deliberation it’s large to cognize (that) heavy down we’re not going to person that discontinue mentality. You ne'er privation to look astir and accidental guys gave up.

“But you don’t privation to enactment yourself successful excessively galore of those situations.”

Al Jazeera person requested a effect from the Philadelphia 76ers to Trump’s disapproval of their star, who appeared to signifier hoops and play shots during the anthem up of Tuesday’s crippled astatine New York Knicks.

LeBron has not made immoderate connection oregon offered immoderate effect himself.

LeBron enjoys top comeback arsenic Cleveland marque beingness tough

Cleveland, disappointed not to onshore hometown leader James aft helium announced helium was leaving the Los Angeles Lakers aft 8 seasons, appeared to beryllium connected a ngo to amusement him what helium missed.

Donovan Mitchell scored 22 of his 32 points successful the archetypal fractional arsenic the Cavs seized power against a 76ers squad struggling to find a bushed and support the ball.

Philadelphia centre Joel Embiid looked creaky, and James had 5 of the Sixers’ 15 first-half turnovers – which led to 22 Cavs points and provoked boos from Philly fans whose hopes of a rubric tally person been raised by the arrivals of James and Brown.

The boos turned to raucous cheers arsenic the re-energized 76ers opened the 3rd 4th connected an 11-0 run. They chopped the pb to azygous digits connected back-to-back baskets from Maxey that pulled them wrong 80-73.

The Cavs were struggling to regroup. Maxey reduced the shortage to 2 points with a moving digit rotation layup with 2:33 near successful the 3rd earlier Cleveland reeled disconnected six consecutive points to instrumentality a 90-82 pb into the 4th quarter.

But the 76ers, who bushed the reigning champion New York Knicks astatine Madison Square Garden connected Tuesday, kept coming. They outscored the Cavaliers 60-37 successful the 2nd half, clamping down defensively and giving up conscionable 2 turnovers.

Evan Mobley scored 18 points for Cleveland but had conscionable 3 successful the 2nd half. Jarrett Allen scored 14 but was held scoreless aft the break.

“We stayed together, that’s the main thing,” Sixers defender VJ Edgecombe said. “When it got worse we could person fixed up, we didn’t. It’s an aboriginal play test, aboriginal play adversity, and we overcame it.”

Thunder triumph arsenic SGA streak with Denver Nuggets ends

In Oklahoma City, the Thunder pulled distant precocious for a 96-84 triumph implicit the Denver Nuggets, contempt a unsmooth shooting nighttime for two-time reigning Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who saw his streak of games with astatine slightest 20 points extremity astatine 141.

Gilgeous-Alexander missed each 7 of his first-half shots and was conscionable two-of-13 from the level done 3 quarters. Nevertheless Oklahoma City, led by Jalen Williams’s game-high 21 points, took a 70-64 pb into the 4th quarter.

Gilgeous-Alexander connected connected 4 of his six attempts for 10 points successful the last framework for a respectable full of 17 points — his archetypal regular-season contention with little than 20 since October 30, 2024, erstwhile helium scored 18 against San Antonio.

Denver’s three-time MVP Nikola Jokic besides had a quiescent night, connecting connected 5 of 19 attempts for 13 points with 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Aaron Gordon led the Nuggets with 20 points.