Cavs Spoil LeBron's Cleveland Homecoming, Thump East-Leading Sixers 119-95

The ovation came first. The basketball, for LeBron James at least, never really followed. Cleveland welcomed its favourite son home on Friday night with loud cheers as the 76ers were introduced at Rocket Arena, the first time James has played in this building as a visitor since choosing Philadelphia in free agency last summer. And then his old team spent the next two and a half hours reminding him exactly why that decision still stings in Northeast Ohio, rolling to a 119-95 win over the Eastern Conference leaders in the Emirates NBA Cup. This was supposed to be a showcase for the new-look Sixers. They arrived 8-1, winners of five straight, owners of the league's best record, with James, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and new arrival Jaylen Brown forming the most star-heavy lineup in the East. Instead they ran into a Cleveland team that had lost three of its last four and was playing without starting centre Jarrett Allen, out with a right knee contusion, and still got pushed around from the opening tip. Donovan Mitchell set the tone. He made his first three shots, had 10 points before the first quarter was half done, and finished with 28 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in 33 minutes. There was a scare midway through the third quarter when Mitchell appeared to tweak an ankle and jogged straight to the locker room, but he was back on the bench within minutes and back on the floor with 4:14 left in the quarter, and the Cavs never wobbled. Cleveland led 33-22 after one, 62-54 at half, and 91-74 after three, and the lead touched 23 in the fourth. Evan Mobley, playing centre in Allen's absence, had 17 points through three quarters and threw down a one-handed lob from James Harden early on that brought the building to its feet. Peyton Watson and Mario Hezonja added 11 apiece through three quarters, Hezonja's coming off the bench in his first season back in the NBA from Europe. For James, the night was a strange one. The cheers at introductions were genuine — he spent 11 seasons here across two stints and delivered the 2016 championship, the city's first in 52 years — but the game itself was a grind: eight points on 3-of-12 shooting, 0-for-4 from three, with seven rebounds, three assists and six turnovers. He was not alone in struggling. Embiid was scoreless from the field through three quarters, 0-for-9, his only points coming at the foul line. VJ Edgecombe, the rookie guard, led Philadelphia with 19 points through three quarters, and Maxey had 17, but the Sixers never got closer than eight after half-time and never led after the first few minutes. The result also settled a small score from opening night. On October 22 the Cavs blew a 29-point lead in Philadelphia and lost 114-106, a collapse that hung over the first fortnight of their season. Friday was the answer, and it leaves Cleveland 5-4 and Philadelphia 8-2. There was a familiar face alongside James, too. Dean Wade, who spent seven years with the Cavaliers before leaving in free agency, made his own return to Rocket Arena in a Sixers uniform. "Anytime in my seven years, anytime that LeBron came back, it was just a madhouse," Wade said before the game. On Friday the madhouse belonged to the home team. Cleveland also lost guard Sam Merrill to a right elbow injury in the first half; he did not return. The two teams meet once more this season, back in Cleveland on March 1.