NBA

Charlotte Hornets at Cleveland Cavaliers

· National Basketball Association
5-8, 1-5 Away
Final
114 - 128

15-0, 8-0 Home

Darius Garland scores 25, Cavaliers become 4th team to start 15-0 with 128-114 win over Hornets

Josh Green in rhythm with efficient 15 points

The Cavs are the fourth team to start 15-0, joining the Golden State Warriors (2016), Houston Rockets (1994) and Washington Capitols (1949). The Warriors set the league record by winning their first 24 games on the way to a 73-9 season.

Evan Mobley had 23 points and 11 rebounds and Jarrett Allen had 21 and 15 rebounds for Cleveland, which will play at defending champion Boston on Tuesday.

Although they wanted to keep their winning streak alive, the Cavs felt getting Mitchell rest was more important. 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.

LaMelo Ball had 31 points and 12 assists, and Miles Bridges scored 19 for the Hornets.

Earlier, Ball was fined $100,000 by the NBA for making “an offensive and derogatory comment” during an interview following Saturday's win at Milwaukee.

Takeaways Hornets: Showed some fight in the second night of a back-to-back, but couldn't get stops down the stretch.

Cavaliers: Barely missed a beat without Mitchell, who was coming off a season-high 37-point performance. One of the many plusses during the winning streak is that it's allowing Atkinson to further develop his bench.

Key moment With Charlotte still hanging around, Garland kicked it out to Jerome for a 3-pointer — and his 12th assist — from the corner with 2:45 left.

Key stats Cleveland shot 67% (26 of 39) in the first half. ... Jerome tied a career-best with eight assists.

Up next Charlotte visits Brooklyn on Tuesday in an NBA Cup game, the same day the Cavaliers play at the Celtics.

Regular Season Series

CLE leads series 1-0

Matchup Prediction

Cavaliers: 84.4%
Hornets: 15.6%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 114 - 128
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 114 - 128
4th 1.0 Georges Niang defensive rebound 114 - 128
4th 2.0 Jared Rhoden misses 1-foot tip shot 114 - 128
4th 2.0 Jared Rhoden offensive rebound 114 - 128

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/cha.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCHA https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/cle.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCLE
42-103 FG 44-77
40.8 Field Goal % 57.1
20-52 3PT 13-30
38.5 Three Point % 43.3
10-12 FT 27-28
83.3 Free Throw % 96.4
40 Rebounds 48
17 Offensive Rebounds 9
23 Defensive Rebounds 39
34 Assists 26
12 Steals 3
6 Blocks 4
9 Turnovers 20
1 Team Turnovers 0
10 Total Turnovers 20
1 Technical Fouls 0
1 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
12 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 28
21 Fast Break Points 14
42 Points in Paint 60
23 Fouls 15
1 Largest Lead 16

Game Information

Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

Location: Cleveland, OH
Attendance: 19,432 · Capacity:

2024-25 Southeast Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Orlando 19 12 .613 - W2
Miami 14 13 .519 3 W1
Atlanta 15 15 .500 3.5 W1
Charlotte 7 22 .241 11 L5
Washington 4 23 .148 13 L2

2024-25 Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Cleveland 26 4 .867 - W5
Milwaukee 16 12 .571 9 W2
Indiana 15 15 .500 11 W5
Chicago 13 17 .433 13 L2
Detroit 13 17 .433 13 W2
Full Standings

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