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The Cleveland Cavaliers improved to 10-0 with a dominant 136-117 victory over the Golden State Warriors at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on Friday. Despite entering the game with a strong 7-1 record, Golden State was quickly overwhelmed by Cleveland. The Cavs raced out to a 20-2 lead, leaving the Warriors in a deep hole from the start and finishing the opening quarter ahead 39-22.
By halftime, Cleveland had built a commanding 83-42 lead, setting a franchise record for most points in a first half. The Cavs shot a scorching 65% from the field and 64% (14-for-22) from three-point range in the opening 24 minutes.
Match highlights
Darius Garland led the way for Cleveland with 27 points, including 6-for-10 shooting from beyond the arc, and added six assists. Evan Mobley contributed 23 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. Ty Jerome came off the bench to score 20 points, hitting all three of his three-point attempts, while Isaac Okoro chipped in 16 points, shooting 4-for-6 from deep.
Golden State showed signs of life in the second half, outscoring the Cavs 75-53, but the massive deficit was insurmountable. Jonathan Kuminga led the Warriors with 21 points, while Brandin Podziemski added 14. Stephen Curry, however, struggled, finishing with just 12 points—his lowest total of the season so far.
Cleveland undefeated run
With the win, Cleveland remains the NBA’s only undefeated team, following the Oklahoma City Thunder's first loss of the season to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, 124-122.
Interestingly, the last team to start 10-0 in the past two decades was the Warriors themselves, who accomplished the feat during the 2015-16 season. That team set an NBA record with a 24-0 start before finishing with an unprecedented 73-9 regular season record—only to lose to the Cavaliers in a seven-game Finals series.
Cleveland is now the fourth team in NBA history to begin a season 10-0, joining the 2000-01 Philadelphia 76ers, the 2002-03 Dallas Mavericks, and the 2015-16 Warriors. In fact, Cleveland's 8-0 start earlier this season already set a franchise record for the best start to a campaign. Additionally, Kenny Atkinson became the first head coach to begin his tenure with a new team 9-0. The Cavs will try to push their record to 11-0 when they face the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday.
"10-0 is a magic number. We're playing really good basketball and I'm just really pleased where the group is. I was worried about tonight - they're 7-1 and rolling and they're coming in here, they're champions and they're going to try and knock our block off. The way we came out tonight - that surprised me, how ready we were, how hungry we were," Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said.
