CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron James got a warm reception from Northeast Ohio fans when he was the last of the Philadelphia 76ers' starters introduced before Friday night's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
That was the only highlight for James, who scored in single digits for only the 10th time in 1,630 NBA regular-season games.
James was held to eight points as the Cavaliers routed the 76ers 119-95 in an NBA Cup group stage game.
The Akron, Ohio, native
— who elected to sign with Philadelphia in the offseason instead of returning to Cleveland for a third stint — was 3 of 12 from the field, including 0 for 4 on 3-pointers, and committed six turnovers in 31 minutes.
“Definitely not feeling a good rhythm offensively,” said James, who came out 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 every time he touched the ball during the first half.
There was no video tribute to James, a surprising omission from recent years. Last season, the Cavaliers showed highlights of James scoring 25 straight points during Game 5 of the 2007 Eastern Conference finals against the Detroit Pistons, which prompted him to tear up.
The Cavaliers have often showed clips of Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals — when Cleveland won its first championship — or when James was the first overall pick in the 2003 draft.
James spent 11 seasons over two stints with the Cavs. He left as a free agent in 2010 to join the Miami Heat, came back 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 December 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 had 22 points, said a major emphasis coming into the game was protecting the paint. James was 2 of 6 in the paint.
Donovan Mitchell, who led the Cavs with 23 points along with seven rebounds and eight assists, was happy with his team's defensive mentality.
“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 had his double-digit points streak in Cleveland snapped at 396 games. The NBA’s career scoring leader had three points on Dec. 30, 2004, against Houston.
His NBA-record run of 1,297 consecutive regular-season games with at least 10 points ended on Dec. 4 last season in the Lakers’ victory at Toronto.
The 76ers' loss was James’ second-worst in Cleveland as a visiting player. He is 9-5, but has been on the losing end in his last three trips. Philadelphia will return to Cleveland on March 1.
The Sixers came in with the NBA's best record but fell to 8-2. Coach Nick Nurse was already looking ahead to Sunday's game at 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.”
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