A depleted 76ers lineup gave it a gutsy shot.
But the Cleveland Cavaliers won again on Wednesday, rallying from a 54-48 halftime deficit to hold off Philadelphia for a 114-106 win. With the victory, the Cavaliers improved to 13-0 to maintain the sixth best start to a season in NBA history.
The Cavaliers are now one win away from tying the fourth-best start in league history. The 2002-03 Dallas Mavericks and 1957-58 Boston Celtics both got off to 14-0 starts. The 1993–94 Houston Rockets and 1948–49 Washington Capitols are tied for the second best start in league history at 15–0.
The Cavaliers have a long way to go to reach the all-time record. The 2015-16 Golden State Warriors led by Stephen Curry started 24-0 en route to a 73-9 campaign for the most regular-season wins in NBA history.
That historic season did not produce a championship. LeBron James’ Cavaliers upset the Warriors in the NBA Finals that season for the franchise’s only championship. For now, these Knights can continue to enjoy their own history amid a scorching start that few saw coming.
Darius Garland sparked Cleveland with a 13-point third quarter to rally the Cavs from a sluggish first half. He finished with 25 points, six assists and five rebounds.
Mitchell overcame a poor shooting start to finish one assist short of a triple-double. He hit three 3-pointers in the final three minutes of the game to extend Cleveland’s lead and fend off a late 76ers rally. He finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists.
Both have been integral to Cleveland’s undefeated streak center along with Evan Mobley, who is in the midst of the best of his four NBA seasons since joining the Cavaliers with the No. 3 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. Mobley finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, one steal and one block. The Cavs shot 49.4% from the field and 16 of 40 (40%) from 3-point range in the victory.
The 76ers played with a makeshift starting lineup as All-Stars Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey all sat in street clothes. Backup center Andre Drummond was a late scratch with an illness.
Embiid and George both sat out with what the team referred to as “injury management” on the second night of a back-to-back. Both played in Tuesday’s loss to the New York Knicks when Embiid made his season debut. Maxey missed the game with a hamstring injury that is expected to sideline him for several weeks.
Guerschon Yabusele, Caleb Martin, Kyle Lowry, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Jared McCain started for Philadelphia with the All-Stars of the sidelined equipment. McCain has picked up the scoring slack in Embiid’s absence in recent games and had the best game of his rookie season with 34 points and 10 assists. But it wasn’t enough to defeat the red-hot Knights.
The Cavaliers will look to extend their streak when they host the Chicago Bulls on Friday.
