The Cleveland Cavaliers were the first opponent for LeBron James as he came back to the Eastern Conference as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. In the season opener, James scored 17 points, helping his new team to a 114-106 home victory.
In his return to Cleveland for the rematch, James did not fare nearly as well and made some dubious history in the process. He managed just eight points in a 119-95 loss that was Philadelphia’s second of the season.
Afterward, James had an honest admission about the loss to the Cavs, saying he “wasn’t good at all.”
“I don’t think offensively as a group (we were sharp) and I know I damn sure wasn’t good at all,” James said.
LeBron James on his and the Sixers’ struggles in Cleveland: “I don’t think offensively as a group (we were sharp) and I know I damn sure wasn’t good at all” pic.twitter.com/YgmLfx83dG
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 7, 2026
This was just the 10th time in 1,630 regular season games that James scored fewer than 10 points. He had his streak of 1,297 straight games broken last season, after he had exceeded that total in every game since Jan. 5, 2007.
This offseason, James reportedly was considering returning for a third stint with the Cavaliers, the team that selected him No. 1 overall in the 2003 NBA Draft and where he won an NBA title in 2016. But he signed a two-year minimum contract with the 76ers instead, which could take him to the end of his career.
The 76ers had won eight of their first nine games and were coming off a 112-106 victory at the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday. James scored 13 points in that outing, as he has not played a prominent scoring role for Philadelphia so far.
The 41-year-old has just one game with more than 20 points this season, and he is averaging 14.8 points per game. But it was thought he might want to put up a bigger performance playing in Cleveland for the first time with Philadelphia.
Instead, he shot just 3-of-12 from the field, including 0-for-4 from the 3-point range. He did have seven rebounds and three assists, and made both of his free throws, but he also committed six turnovers.
The Cavaliers, for their part, won for the second time in their past five games, and they will not face James again until March.
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