76ers start 2-0 after 29-point comeback against Cleveland; Thunder win ugly as Gilgeous-Alexander’s 140-game streak ends

Two games were played in the NBA on Thursday 22 October, and both home teams won their openers in front of their own fans. Philadelphia came back from 29 points down to beat Cleveland 114-106 and move to 2-0, and Oklahoma City beat Denver 96-84 despite an off night from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

76ers 114, Cavaliers 106: the comeback

LeBron James’s first home game as a 76er looked like it would go badly. Cleveland built a 29-point lead, with Donovan Mitchell on his way to 32 points and 10 rebounds. Philadelphia then turned it around, and the decisive stretch was a 15-0 run in the fourth quarter led by Tyrese Maxey.

Maxey finished with 32 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists, and has now scored 60 points in two games. Joel Embiid added 24 points and 7 rebounds, Jaylen Brown 21 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, and James 17 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. Evan Mobley scored 18 for Cleveland and James Harden 16 with 5 assists.

What is working in Philadelphia

Two games in, the shape of this team is clear. Maxey is the scorer, with 28 points at Madison Square Garden and 32 against Cleveland. Brown has scored 19 and 21 as the second option. Embiid has played both games, which is the most important detail of all after the injury problems of the last two seasons. And James, at 41, is acting as a connector rather than the focal point, averaging 15.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists so far.

The concern is the start. Philadelphia trailed the Knicks by ten in the first half on opening night and fell 29 behind on Thursday. Comebacks are a good sign of a team’s character, but they are not a sustainable way to win, and the 76ers will want to start games better before the schedule gets heavier. It is also two games: a 2-0 start tells us about the ceiling of this roster, not where it will finish.

Thunder 96, Nuggets 84: Gilgeous-Alexander’s streak ends

Oklahoma City’s home opener was a grind. Denver, playing their first game of the season, led by as many as nine early, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed all seven of his shots in the first half. It was only the fourth time in 450 games for the Thunder that he had gone a whole half without a field goal.

He finished with 17 points on 6-of-19 shooting, ending a run of 140 straight games with at least 20 points, and asked to come out after hitting a three with 1:44 left. Jalen Williams led the Thunder with 21 points, and Chet Holmgren had 12 points and 17 rebounds. The Thunder led 70-64 after three quarters and pulled away late. For Denver, Aaron Gordon scored 20, and Nikola Jokić and DeMar DeRozan had 13 each.

That the Thunder won comfortably on a night when their best player struggled is the real takeaway. Oklahoma City are 2-0 after beating San Antonio, the team that knocked them out of last season’s Western Conference finals, and Denver.

What’s next

The Nuggets host New Orleans on Saturday, and the Thunder host the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday. The NBA Cup group stage starts on 30 October. Follow the live NBA standings, calculated from every result, in the SportPulses basketball section.