The Cleveland Cavaliers became just the fourth team in NBA history to start a season 15-0 after beating the Charlotte Hornets 128-114 on Sunday night.
After trailing 5-4 just under two minutes into the game, the Cavs then opened up an early double-digit lead and led for the remainder of the contest.
Charlotte managed to cut the gap to three at the end of the third quarter, but Cleveland pulled away again in the fourth to notch a franchise record-extending 15th straight win.
The Cavs are now also tied for the second-best start in NBA history, behind only the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors who started the season 24-0 and went on to set a league record 73-9 campaign.
The other two teams to start a season 15-0 were the 1993-94 Houston Rockets and the 1948-49 Washington Capitols, per ESPN.
“Everybody is showing tons of energy, all over the city of Cleveland,” Cavs center Jarrett Allen said after the game. “It’s incredible how Cleveland has adopted us. They come to every game, yelling for everything. The city of Cleveland has our backs like that.”
The Cavs shared the scoring burden in the absence of franchise star Donovan Mitchell, who was rested for Sunday’s game.
Darius Garland had 25 points and 12 assists, Ty Jerome had 24 points and eight assists, Evan Mobley had 23 points and 11 rebounds and Allen had 21 points and 15 rebounds.
Up next for the Cavs are the Boston Celtics, who ousted Cleveland in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season en route to the championship.
“It’s the defending champs and the team that knocked us out last year,” Allen told reporters. “We’ve always wanted to test ourselves against the best, we’ve always wanted to see where we stand with the best teams in the league.”
Allen went on to call it a “rematch,” adding: “I know they didn’t have some players and we didn’t have me, so I want to help our team, propel us forward and try to beat them and test where we are with them.”
Lamelo Ball scored a game-high 31 points for the Hornets to go with 12 assists, but was later fined $100,000 by the NBA for language in his post-match interview the league deemed as “offensive and derogatory.”
James Harden passes Ray Allen for No. 2 on NBA’s all-time three-point list
Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden passed Ray Allen to move to No. 2 in the NBA’s all-time made three-pointers list on Sunday in the team’s 116-105 victory over the Utah Jazz.
Harden, who entered Sunday night’s game tied with Allen, passed the Hall of Famer after making a shot from deep with 6:09 left in the first quarter, giving him 2,974 made in his career.
He trails only Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, who has 3,782 in his career.
“It’s an unbelievable accomplishment and just a testament to the amount of work that I’ve been putting in,” Harden – who finished the game with 20 points, six rebounds, 11 assists, two steals and two blocks – said afterwards. “As I get older and just chip away at an unbelievable career, you start to accomplish things like that, so I don’t ever want to take it for granted.”
The 35-year-old tied Allen on Friday during the Clippers game against the Houston Rockets, where he played for nine years.
During his time with Houston, Harden amassed 2,029 triples and became the third player ever in NBA history to make 300 three-pointers in a single season in 2018-19. As a member of the Rockets, Harden was an eight-time All-Star and was named league MVP in 2017-18.
“James has always been a dynamic scorer,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “Once he got (to Houston) and had his own team and figured out the style he wanted to play with (former Rockets coach Mike) D’Antoni he just took off. And three-point shooting is a big weapon of his.”
Following his tenure with the Rockets, Harden has played with the Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and now the Clippers.
Julius Randle three-point buzzer-beater caps late Minnesota comeback
Julius Randle hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to cap a wild, late 120-117 comeback win for the Minnesota Timberwolves against the Phoenix Suns.
Phoenix took a 97-86 lead with 11:12 left in the fourth quarter following a Grayson Allen three-pointer, but Minnesota stormed back after taking a timeout.
The Timberwolves went ahead for the first time in the game with 1:09 remaining when an Anthony Edwards bank shot made it 115-114.
The scores were then tied at 117 when Randle’s moment arrived.
The former New York Knicks star received the inbound pass and shook off the attention of Josh Okogie, before drilling a side-step three-pointer to send the home arena wild.
Randle held his arms aloft as he was swarmed by his teammates.
It was Randle’s best performance in a Timberwolves jersey since the big offseason trade in which Karl-Anthony Towns moved to the Knicks.
His 35 points were a team-high and season-high, while he also added four rebounds and seven assists. Edwards racked up 24 points, four rebounds and six assists.
Devin Booker had a season-high 44 points for the Suns, who were without the injured Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal.
Sunday’s full scores
Away @ home (winners in bold)
Charlotte Hornets 114-128 Cleveland Cavaliers
Utah Jazz 105-116 Los Angeles Clippers
Phoenix Suns 117-120 Minnesota Timberwolves
Miami Heat 110-119 Indiana Pacers
Detroit Pistons 124-104 Washington Wizards
Denver Nuggets 90-105 Memphis Grizzlies
Atlanta Hawks 110-114 Portland Trail Blazers
Brooklyn Nets 104-114 New York Knicks
Houston Rockets 143-107 Chicago Bulls
Dallas Mavericks 121-119 Oklahoma City Thunder
