LeBron James received a warm welcome from Northeast Ohio fans as the final Philadelphia 76ers starter introduced before Friday night's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
However, the homecoming offered little else to celebrate, as James endured one of the quietest scoring performances of his career, finishing in single digits for just the 10th time in 1,630 NBA regular-season appearances.
The Cavaliers cruised to a 119-95 victory in an NBA Cup group-stage matchup, holding James to eight points in 31 minutes. The Akron, Ohio, native struggled offensively, shooting 3 of 12 from the field and missing all four of his 3-point attempts while committing six turnovers.
James, who chose to join Philadelphia in the offseason rather than return to Cleveland for a third stint, was unable to make an impact against his former team.
"Definitely not feeling a good rhythm offensively," said James, who left the game with 3:54 remaining and the 76ers trailing by 19 points. "We didn't look like much offensively. We had a couple spurts, but too many turnovers on my behalf."
James received a smattering of boos from Cavaliers fans whenever he touched the ball during the first half.
There was no video tribute to James, a surprising omission compared with recent years. Last season, the Cavaliers showed highlights of James scoring 25 consecutive points during Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference finals against the Detroit Pistons, prompting him to tear up.
The Cavaliers have also frequently shown clips from Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, when Cleveland won its first championship, and footage of James being selected first overall in the 2003 NBA draft.
James spent 11 seasons with the Cavaliers over two stints. He left as a free agent in 2010 to join the Miami Heat, returned in 2014 and departed again in 2018 to join the Los Angeles Lakers.
"At the end of the day, nothing can get as worse as Dec. 2, 2010, from a reception standpoint. So I've seen them near the depths of hell when it comes to reception here, all the way to the heavens above. So anything in between, it's easy money," James said.
James missed his first two shots from beyond the arc before scoring on a driving layup with 6:37 remaining in the first quarter.
Cleveland center Evan Mobley, who finished with 22 points, said a major emphasis heading into the game was protecting the paint. James went 2 of 6 from the paint.
Donovan Mitchell, who led the Cavaliers with 23 points, also contributed seven rebounds and eight assists. He praised his team's defensive approach.
"He's a hell of a player, but like Evan said, just trying to pack the paint and knowing that he's trying to drive but also kick it out. He had six turnovers, and you give credit where it's due to our defense as a whole. And from there we were able to get out and get going," Mitchell said.
James' streak of scoring at least 10 points in Cleveland ended at 396 games. The NBA's career scoring leader had three points on Dec. 30, 2004, against Houston.
His NBA-record streak of 1,297 consecutive regular-season games with at least 10 points ended Dec. 4 last season in the Lakers' victory over Toronto.
The 76ers' loss was James' second-worst in Cleveland as a visiting player. He has a 9-5 record against the Cavaliers on the road but has lost on his last three trips. Philadelphia will return to Cleveland on March 1.
The 76ers entered the game with the NBA's best record but fell to 8-2. Coach Nick Nurse was already looking ahead to Sunday's game against Chicago.
"We were lackluster 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. They had us and New York coming to town (on Saturday). They had to dig in and they did," 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."
