LeBron James pulls off impossible nutmeg dribble, Sixers beat Cavs

March 2 (UPI) -- Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James did the impossible again: he nutmegged his own teammate while doing a behind-the-back dribble and scoring on the same play.

"King James" pulled off the extraterrestrial move Thursday night in the Cavaliers' 108-97 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. He had the ball with 7:44 to go in the first quarter before coming up on Sixers big man Joel Embiid and forward Robert Covington.

He faced up on Covington before stepping to his left. James then put the ball on the floor and threw it behind his back with his left hand as Embiid tried to reach in. He bounced the ball on the floor, between the legs of Tristan Thompson -- without even looking -- and caught it again with his right hand. He drove into the paint and tossed up a layup with his left hand and put it through the net.

James' shot gave the Cavaliers 13 points in the quarter, but Cleveland still trailed by five at that point.

The Sixers ended an 11-game losing streak to the Cavaliers with the victory. James scored a game-high 30 points and had nine rebounds and eight assists in the loss.

After the game, James praised Sixers star Ben Simmons.

"I told y'all a while back that my young King was next in line! Getting better and better every night out! Tonight another example of that," James wrote on social media. "Fun to watch and compete against you again and #TheProcess @joelembiid. Remember lil bro settle for nothing less than greatness!!! @bensimmons."

Simmons scored 18 points and had nine rebounds and eight assists in the win.

"Appreciate what you've done for the game, nothing but respect for you bro," Simmons responded.

James and the Cavaliers host the Denver Nuggets at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena.