CLEVELAND — The atmosphere in Rocket Arena on Friday night wasn’t the “depths of hell,” as LeBron James said he experienced when he first returned to this venue wearing a Miami Heat jersey 16 years ago, but James’ play was something out of a hellish nightmare.
James had one of the worst games of his career in Friday night’s 119-95 NBA Cup loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, finishing with eight points on 3-for-12 shooting and six turnovers.
The porous night ended James’ 396-game streak of scoring at least 10 points in Cleveland; the last time he scored fewer than 10 points in Cleveland was Dec. 29, 2004, a day before his 20th birthday.
It was James’ first time back in Cleveland since the Cavaliers’ failed offseason pursuit of the 41-year-old this summer, when he chose to join the Sixers over the Cavaliers, Heat, Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves in free agency. “That first day or two, you’re just like, you’re depressed, quite honestly,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said last month about losing out on James.
James received a warm welcome, as most fans in the arena stood to cheer, giving him louder roars than all of the Cavaliers starters.
And yet, James seemed indifferent to the welcoming response. After all, he had returned to Cleveland with two other teams — the Heat and Los Angeles Lakers — but that feeling ultimately comes from a fraught night James can never forget.
“At the end of the day, nothing can get worse than Dec. 2, 2010, from a reception standpoint,” James said. “So I’ve seen the depths of hell when it comes to reception here, all the way to the heavens above. So anything in between is easy money.”
James returned to Cleveland in December 2010 after he joined the Heat in free agency. James, who was 25 at the time, was mercilessly booed by the fans, and on that night, it seemed as though they would never reconcile with the superstar who broke their hearts when he made his decision to leave his hometown team during the national television special.
To add to their heartbreak, James took the taunts and ridicule in stride, scoring 38 points and leading the Heat to a 118-90 rout over his former team. Sixteen years later, James, now with gray hairs in his beard, gave a performance the crowd in 2010 would have feasted on.
He struggled to blow by Cavaliers defenders, his shots were off target, and he turned the ball over six times. For the first time, he looked like he was playing in his 24th NBA season.
“I know I damn sure wasn’t good at all,” James said.
James wasn’t the only Sixer who struggled Friday night. The other former MVP on the team, Joel Embiid, also had one of the worst games of his career, finishing 0-for-9 from the field with six points. It was the second-worst shooting performance of his career; he went 0-of-11 from the field against the Toronto Raptors seven years ago.
James and Embiid became the third former MVP duo in NBA history to each score in single digits and shoot 25% or worse from the field in the same game.
“I definitely did not feel in a good rhythm offensively,” James said. “We didn’t look like much offensively. … Too many turnovers on my behalf, and I didn’t feel in a rhythm.”
The Sixers (8-2) will play the Bulls in Chicago on Sunday.
“Tonight was not our shot, not our greatest of shots,” James said. “But listen, if you would have told me our team, through 10 games, first 10 games of the season, would be 8-2, I’d take it.”
