The atmosphere at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Thursday night could hardly have started worse for Philadelphia.

PhillyVoice's Adam Aaronson writes that the Sixers walked to their locker room at halftime hearing a chorus of boos, having committed 15 first-half turnovers that Cleveland converted into 22 easy points while every Sixer not named Tyrese Maxey shot a combined 12-for-35.

By the final buzzer, though, the same capacity crowd had watched the Sixers complete a stunning 29-point comeback to win 114-106 over the Cavaliers.

Aaronson describes a crowd treating every possession like it would decide the NBA Finals, with the apathy that had permeated Philadelphia basketball fans in recent years seemingly evaporating in just over an hour of basketball.

What makes the comeback so striking, per PhillyVoice, is the context around it.

After what the outlet calls a dream summer that brought Jaylen Brown and LeBron James to Philadelphia in a transformational offseason, plus Tuesday's gutsy road win at Madison Square Garden, the Sixers are somehow 2-0 in 2026-27.

LeBron James made his home Sixers debut on Thursday, and the new-look core of James, Brown, Joel Embiid, Maxey and VJ Edgecombe all made critical plays on both ends during the closing stretch.

With 79 seconds left in a four-point game, Cleveland missed a pair of free throws, Maxey floated in two, James came up with a steal, and Edgecombe found Brown to push the lead to eight with 44 seconds remaining, per PhillyVoice.

The turnaround, PhillyVoice reports, started with an aggressive defensive realignment from head coach Nick Nurse.

Embiid moved off rim-running center Jarrett Allen — with James taking that matchup and sliding up to the five — Embiid roamed off wing Peyton Watson instead of defending Evan Mobley, Brown took the physical challenge of guarding Mobley, Maxey drew his former mentor James Harden, and Edgecombe slid over to Donovan Mitchell.

The Sixers then played what Aaronson calls an unfathomably good quarter, outscoring Cleveland 37-21 in the third as everyone flew around forcing turnovers that fed transition baskets.

It was the second consecutive post-halftime eruption sparked by defensive changes for a team that infamously struggled after intermission a year ago.

No sequence captured the night better than the confrontation PhillyVoice highlights: the noise inside the arena may have reached its loudest when Maxey went toe-to-toe, nose-to-nose with his old teammate James Harden, who was booed constantly throughout the game.

By that point Cleveland's 29-point lead had already become a small Sixers advantage, and the skirmish bookended what Aaronson describes as a remarkable 13-0 run powered largely by Brown's self-created scoring inside the arc.

Maxey defended his former mentor and, in Aaronson's words, did a hell of a job at it — drawing an offensive foul as the crowd roared, with Brown scoring again before Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson called a shellshocked timeout with a 36-point turnaround complete.

Despite the euphoria, PhillyVoice stresses there remains so much work ahead.

James racked up five first-half turnovers in uncharacteristically sloppy play, Brown missed six of his first eight shots and committed three turnovers, and Adem Bona's minutes at backup center have not been good at all, per the outlet.

Aaronson frames the game as emblematic of what this season may look like: flashes of unmatched brilliance and moments of extreme weakness wrapped into one night. Dean Wade, whose ankle sprain kept him from his Sixers debut against his former team, was ruled out shortly before tipoff.

The Sixers now get a day off before hosting their first back-to-back, with the Milwaukee Bucks in town Saturday night, while Oklahoma City fans prepare for their own home opener against Denver at 8:30 p.m. at Paycom Center, where KOCO reports the Thunder arrive fresh off a 116-104 win over San Antonio led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 32 points.