Cavaliers become second NBA team to start 10-0 in 20 years with dominant 136-117 win over Warriors

On By Littum

The Cleveland Cavaliers improved to 10-0 with an exclamation point, destroying the Golden State Warriors 136-117 at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on Friday.

Golden State entered Friday’s matchup with a 7-1 record, but this was a mismatch from the start. The Cavs opened the game on a 20-2 run and put the Warriors in a deep hole from the start, ending the first quarter ahead 39-22.

At halftime, Cleveland held an 83-42 lead and set a franchise record for first-half points. The Cavs shot 65% from the floor and 64% (14-for-22) on 3-pointers in the half.

Darius Garland led the Cavs with 27 points (shot 6-for-10 on 3-pointers) and six assists. Evan Mobley followed with 23 points, four rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Ty Jerome added 20 points off the bench and hit 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 enormous deficit was too much to overcome. Jonathan Kuminga scored 21 points, with Brandin Podziemski adding 14. Stephen Curry had 12 points, his season-low total.

Cleveland is the NBA’s last undefeated team this season after the Oklahoma City Thunder lost the season opener 124-122 to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday.

Interestingly, the last NBA team to start 10-0 over the past 20 seasons was the Warriors, who did so in the 2014-15 season. That team set a league record with a 24-0 start en route to finishing 73-9, 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 2000-01 Philadelphia 76ers, 2002-03 Dallas Mavericks and 2014-15 Warriors. A total of 14 teams have started the season 10-0 or better in NBA history.

With an 8-0 start, Cleveland already set a franchise record for best start to a season. And Kenny Atkinson became the first head coach to start a season 9-0 with his new team. They will try to extend their record to 11-0 on Saturday when they host the Brooklyn Nets.