CLEVELAND — Darius Garland scored 25 points, Ty Jerome tied his career high with 24 in place of Donovan Mitchell, and the Cleveland Cavaliers remained undefeated with a 128-114 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night.
The Cavs are the fourth team to start 15-0 and are tied for the second-best start to a season in NBA history, trailing only the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (24-0). The Warriors set the league record by winning their first 24 games en route to a 73-9 season.
The 2015-16 Warriors, 1993-94 Houston Rockets (started 15-0) and 1948-49 Washington Capitols (15-0) all reached the NBA Finals.
Evan Mobley scored 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Jarrett Allen had 21 points and 15 rebounds for Cleveland, marking the second time the Cavaliers have had four 20-point scorers in consecutive games in franchise history, and the first time since 1972. .
The Cavs also extended the longest winning streak in team history and have given Cleveland sports fans something to be excited about in the midst of a long-gone football season for the Browns.
“It’s amazing,” Allen said of how the city is embracing the Cavs. “Everyone is showing tons of energy, all over the city. It’s amazing how Cleveland has embraced us. They come to every game, screaming about everything. The city of Cleveland has our back.”
Although they wanted to keep their winning streak alive, the Cavs felt it was more important for Mitchell to rest. It’s a long season with bigger games ahead, and first-year coach Kenny Atkinson, who has yet to lose with Cleveland, said sticking to the plan with Mitchell was a priority.
The Cavaliers barely missed a beat without Mitchell, who was coming off a season-high 37-point performance. One of the many advantages of the winning streak is that it allows Atkinson to further develop his bench.
As has been the case in almost every game, the Cavs got positive minutes and moments from everyone Atkinson put on the court. They also overcame some adversity, as both Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade were sent off in the second half with ankle injuries. Wade, who has made seven starts, left Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse wearing a walking boot.
The Cavaliers will put their perfect start on the line Tuesday against the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics at TD Garden.
“Boston Garden,” Atkinson said. “What’s better than that?”
As NBA games go in November, not much.
This is the fourth time in NBA history that a team with a winning streak of more than 15 games has faced the defending NBA champion, and the first time since the Chicago Bulls faced the Rockets in 1996. One One of these cases occurred in 1972, when the Los Angeles Lakers saw their NBA-record 33-game winning streak come to an end against the Milwaukee Bucks.
“It’s great for the NBA, right?” said Atkinson, the only coach to win his first 15 games with a new team. “Everyone will be watching, and I know our guys are anxious. I know they remember last year. We’re doing well. They’re doing well. It’s great for the league. Great for our franchise. We’re excited. “
Mitchell did not play in the final two games of last year’s Eastern Conference semifinals, when the Cavs were eliminated in five games by the Celtics, who won another championship.
Allen missed the entire Boston series with a broken rib and said he and his teammates are looking forward to seeing how they stack up against the Celtics now.
“It’s a rematch,” Allen said. “I know they didn’t have some players. And we didn’t have me, so I want to try to beat them and prove where we are with them.”
Atkinson feels the same way. If the Cavs have title aspirations, this is a chance for them to see if they are real.
“It’s going to be a big test for us,” he said. “Obviously they play a different style, five outs with five shooters, so it’s going to be a really good test for us. We’re at that point right now: 15-0 and we’re going to test ourselves against the best and see where.” We stop and see where we are going to make adjustments or not.
“It actually comes at the perfect time.”
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
