The Cleveland Cavaliers opened their season with a lose to the Philadelphia 76ers 114-106. The hardest thing to swallow for Cavs fans: they had a 29-point lead at one point.

Once again the Cavs struggled to play all four quarters against the 76ers which led to their collapse.

The Cavaliers just blew a HISTORIC 29-point lead against the Sixers

Cleveland was previously 155-0 when leading by 29+ points since 1996

Meanwhile, Philadelphia was 0-156 when trailing by 29+ points during that span.

NBA teams had also won 466 consecutive regular-season games… pic.twitter.com/zH1lOp0keO

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 23, 2026

It leaves Cavs fans still with that poor taste in their mouth that they experienced in game one of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Knicks just a few months ago. Both of these games were on the road I might add.

Kenny Atkinson once again struggled to make adjustments down the stretch. James Harden had a very poor performance, finishing with 16 points and shot 41.7% from the field. Yet Atkinson left him out there in clutch time when it felt like he was weighing the team down.

There has to be some sort of change in his philosophy down the stretch. He has been outspoken about not wanting to use timeouts because he "likes to save them." That showed up in this loss once again.

When the 76ers took their first lead of the night late in the fourth Atkinson had two or three timeouts to use and decided not too. It's finding ways to stop the other team's momentum that he has struggled with since being at the helm for the Cavs.

I am not sure what happened at halftime, but the Cavs seemed lazy in half two. They went from an explosive 69-point first half, to an ugly 37-point second half, that included only 16 points in the fourth.

Tyrese Maxey also exposed a key weakness for the Cavs: transition defense. Maxey in the second half abused the runout to get easy layups because for yet another season the Cavs struggle to guard in transition.

Once again, I look back to the coaching staff and how they could not find an answer. Adjustments are key in the game of basketball.

Yes, it is game one and there are 81 more to play, but hopefully this game did not set the tone for the rest of the season.

Figuring out how to adjust on the fly when a team is making a run or having to make the tough choice of sitting out a star player is needed. If Atkinson can take a step in that direction going forward; then it the Cavs should easily turn their season around.

The first half is what all fans want to see: Cavs basketball. The ball was flying around the court which made rotation hard for the 76ers. The second half saw a lot more iso ball which has been the downfall for the Cavs the past few seasons.

The Cavs will have their home opener on Saturday when they host the Brooklyn Nets. The in-game adjustments Atkinson makes will be a key to watch for in that matchup.

A big collapse like that in game one of 82 is not ideal, now it is time for the adjustments to be made going forward.