CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – On paper, the Cavs 2024-25 season has been perfect. The Cavaliers earned a hard-fought 144-126 win over the Bulls on Friday to remain the only undefeated team in the NBA.
It was Cleveland’s 14th straight win which sets a franchise record for the team’s longest winning streak. Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson is the only coach in NBA history to win the first 14 games to start a tenure with a franchise.
“I mean it’s everybody,” Donovan Mitchell said. “It’s a collective group effort. We’re finding ways to win in different scenarios selflessly.”
Stars in the backcourt – Darius Garland continues to have an All-Star caliber season. He finished with 29 points and nine assists. Garland has scored 20-plus points in eight games this season, including four of his last five.
His partner in the backcourt shined too, as Donovan Mitchell led all scorers with 37 points. Mitchell scored 18 points in the fourth quarter after scoring nine straight points to open the quarter for Cleveland.
“It’s the ultimate luxury,” Atkinson said about having multiple guys that can close out games. “They have this shared understanding. They just have a great comprehension and understanding of each other.”
The Cavaliers are 38-8 in Mitchell's last 46 regular season games since January 1st.
More history – The Cavs set a new franchise record for points in a quarter with 49 points in the first 12 minutes of the game. They made 19 of their 22 shots in the opening quarter.
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Cleveland got off to a 14-7 lead thanks to Donovan Mitchell, who scored 10 of the Cavs first 14 points. Darius Garland scored 15 first-quarter points with six assists for the wine and gold.
“[He’s a] great passer,” Atkinson said about Garland. “I don’t say that lightly, like, I don’t think he’s a good passer. When your best players can pass, it changes everything.”
The only other time the Cavs scored 49 points in a quarter was in an NBA playoff game. Cleveland scored 49 points in the first quarter of Game 4 of the 2017 NBA Finals.
New starting five – Evan Mobley missed his first game of the season on Friday with an illness.
“I definitely had to step up without Evan,” Jarrett Allen said. “You could see the impact that him being out makes in this game. It’s just the next man up mentality.”
Filling in for Mobley in the starting lineup was nine-year NBA vet Georges Niang, who played 25 minutes in his 30th career NBA start. He scored a season-high 14 points with eight rebounds.
“He’s so smart,” Atkinson said. “He’s the ultimate connector, such a cerebral player, and makes everyone around him better.”
500 – Jarrett Allen played in his 500th career NBA game on Friday. Allen scored 24 points with 10 rebounds. It was Allen’s ninth double-double of the season, and he now has 198 career double-doubles.
For the fifth time this season, Cleveland has had three players score 20-plus points. Caris LeVert passed the 20-point milestone with a late three-pointer, making it the first time this season that four players have scored 20-plus points in a game.
“We become unpredictable out there especially to close games,” LeVert said. “You kind of have to pick your poison.”
NBA Cup – Friday’s game was the first Emirates NBA Cup game of the season for the Cavs. Atkinson admitted pregame that the players hadn’t talked about it much, but they were aware of the stakes.
“I think it’s something we go for,” Atkinson said. “I think where we are right now, with the record and everything, I think we want to keep testing ourselves at the highest level. I know as a staff we’re really kind of embracing this challenge.”
Atkinson also said that there is strategy involved in NBA Cup games, especially with the importance of point differential in the in-season tournament. An 18-point win in their first NBA Cup game will serve the Cavs well, with games against the Celtics, Hawks, and Wizards left in the group stage.
“We all know what the grand prize is,” Isaac Okoro said. “That’s another motivating factor right there. You see it at the end of the game, you know, still trying to rack them points up because you know what it means.”
“We want to go to Las Vegas, you know, we want to win and I think that was on our mind for sure,” Mitchell said.
Up next – The Cavs have a day off before welcoming the Charlotte Hornets (4-7) into town on Sunday. It will be the second game of a back-to-back for the Hornets who went 2-1 against Cleveland in the regular season last year.