LeBron James Measures Cavaliers Welcome Against Dec. 2, 2010, After 76ers Loss

The Cleveland Cavaliers held LeBron James to 8 points Friday night, his first game at Rocket Arena as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. That ended a 396-game streak of scoring at least 10 points in regular-season games in Cleveland, ESPN’s Kris Rhim reported. His last single-digit night there came Dec. 29, 2004, one day before he turned 20.

Cleveland won 119-95 in its first game of Emirates NBA Cup group play. James went 3-of-12. None of his four 3-point attempts fell, and he turned it over 6 times in 31 minutes before checking out for the last time with 3:54 to play.

Two nights earlier in Detroit, he had become the first player in NBA history with 16,000 career field goals.

Six turnovers was too many by his own measure.

“I definitely did not feel in a good rhythm offensively,” James said. “We didn’t look like much offensively. We had a couple spurts. We was able to cut it, I think, to three in the third quarter. But too many turnovers on my behalf. I didn’t feel a rhythm offensively.”

Friday was only the 10th time in his 24-year career that James has scored in single digits in a regular-season game, The Associated Press reported.

Some of the giveaways came from trying to make the right play.

“A bit of both. A couple of them was careless,” James explained. “A couple of them was just trying to make the right play and not being successful.”

Most of the crowd stood and cheered James during pregame introductions, according to ESPN. The AP reported a smattering of boos from Cavaliers fans whenever he touched the ball in the first half.

On July 24, James announced he would sign with Philadelphia instead of returning to Cleveland for a third stint. His two-year, $8 million contract includes a player option on the second season.

Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson had predicted a huge ovation before the game.

“That first day or two, you’re just like, you’re depressed, quite honestly,” Atkinson said last month about losing out on James, according to ESPN.

James wouldn’t say whether Friday’s warmer welcome surprised him.

“I don’t know, because at the end of the day, nothing can get as worse as Dec. 2, 2010, from a reception standpoint,” James said. “So I’ve seen the near depths of hell when it comes to reception here, all the way to, like, the heavens above. So anything in between is easy money.”

That December night was James’ first game in Cleveland after he left for the Miami Heat in free agency. He scored 38 points in a 118-90 Miami win.

Being drafted sits next to the championship at the top for James.

“Just a journey. The journey from being an 18-year-old rookie to leading a franchise to a championship, and everything in between,” James said.

Cleveland drafted him first in 2003 out of Akron’s St. Vincent-St. Mary. He left for Miami seven seasons later, returned in 2014, and stayed through 2018.

Down 3-1 in the 2016 Finals, the Cavaliers won the next three games to claim the title. Cleveland’s previous major championship was the Browns’ 1964 title.

“As far as my tenure here and the years I spent here, obviously those [are] at the top, along with being drafted, and everything coming in between, being drafted to win a championship,” James said. “Just building that whole momentum from the first seven years to coming back for four years and doing everything between losing the playoffs, winning the playoffs.”

“Seeing things, different teammates, different everything,” James continued. “So, yeah, getting drafted to the championship was obviously the icing on the cake and something I wanted to [do].”

Nobody has scored more points for the Cavaliers than James, who left with 23,119. His 8,369 field goals in 849 regular-season games are a franchise record too.

On Saturday, against the New York Knicks, Cleveland holds the first of three theme nights for the 10th anniversary of that 2016 team. Matthew Dellavedova cutouts go up on the concourse. Mini championship banners come Nov. 14, Dellavedova bobbleheads on Dec. 12.

Outside the building, the 2016 Championship Commemorative Court has been open at Meet Me Here Plaza since June 19, 10 years to the day after Game 7 in Oakland.

The 76ers dropped to 8-2 after shooting 36.5% from the field and 10-of-40 from 3-point range, and James said it was not their greatest of shots.

“We just gotta be better. We just gotta simply be better,” James said. “Tonight was not our shot, not our greatest of shots. But if you would have told me our team, the first 10 games of the season, would be 8-2, I’d take it.”

Philadelphia is in Chicago on Sunday. Cleveland, now 5-4, tips off against the Knicks at 8 p.m. ET Saturday on the second night of a back-to-back.