The Cleveland Cavaliers improved to 10-0 with an exclamation point, defeating the Golden State Warriors 136-117 on Friday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
Golden State came into Friday’s game with a 7-1 record, but this was a mismatch from the start. The Cavs opened the game on a 20-2 run, putting the Warriors in a deep hole from the start and ending the first quarter with a 39-22 lead.
At halftime, Cleveland held an 83–42 lead, setting a franchise record for first-half points. The Cavs shot 65% from the floor and 64% (14-for-22) on three-pointers through the half.
Darius Garland led the Cavs with 27 points (6-for-10 shooting from 3-point range) and six assists. Evan Mobley followed with 23 points, four rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Ty Jerome added 20 points off the bench, hitting all three of his 3-pointers and Isaac Okoro added 16 points and shot 4-for-6 from 3.
The Warriors played better in the second half, outscoring the Cavs 75-53. But the massive deficit was too big to overcome. Jonathan Kuminga scored 21 points, Brandin Podziemski added 14. Stephen Curry scored 12 points, his lowest total of the season so far.
Cleveland is the NBA’s last undefeated team this season after the Oklahoma City Thunder lost their first game of the season 124-122 to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday.
Interestingly enough, the Warriors were the last NBA team to start 10-0 in the last twenty seasons, and they did so during the 2015-2016 season. That team set a league record with a 24-0 start en route to a 73-9 finish, the best regular season record in NBA history. Still, Golden State lost to the Cavaliers and LeBron James in a seven-game NBA finals.
The Cavs are now the fourth team to start 10-0 since 2000, joining the Philadelphia 76ers from 2000-2001, the Dallas Mavericks from 2002-2003 and the Warriors from 2015-2016. A total of fourteen teams in NBA history have started the season 10-0 or better.
With an 8-0 start, Cleveland already set a franchise record for the best start to the season. And Kenny Atkinson became the first head coach to start a season 9-0 with his new team. They will look to extend their record to 11-0 on Saturday when they host the Brooklyn Nets.
