With a 128-114 victory at home tonight against the Charlotte Hornets, the Cleveland Cavaliers secured the second-best start to a season in NBA history. They tied the 1948-1949 Washington Capitols and the 1993-1994 Houston Rockets as the only other teams in league history with 15 straight wins to begin a season.
The 2015-2016 Golden State Warriors are the only team in NBA history to have more consecutive victories to begin a campaign. They started the season a whopping 24-0 and finished the regular season with a record 73 wins. We are a ways away from the 2024-2025 Cleveland Cavaliers being talked about in the same breath as that Golden State Warriors team, but they are still off to a great start. How long will Cleveland be able to extend their winning streak?
Cleveland Cavaliers Season Summary
15-0.
The 73-win Warriors are the only team in NBA history to start the season with a longer winning streak. pic.twitter.com/yOzTuZmwjH
— StatMuse (@statmuse) November 18, 2024
Cleveland was expected to be a solid team in the Eastern Conference entering this season, but no one expected them to have a historically great start to the season. The Cavaliers hired Kenny Atkinson as their head coach following the firing of J.B. Bickerstaff after the team bowed out of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Cleveland made the NBA Playoffs each of the last two seasons but wanted a change at the head coach position. Atkinson’s tenure with the Cleveland Cavaliers has gotten off to a dazzling start.
Cleveland’s perfect record has been powered by both a great offense and a great defense. They lead the league in points per game, field goal percentage, and three-point percentage. They are also top 10 in many categories including defensive rebounds, assists, turnovers per game, bench scoring, and point differential. The defense of the Cleveland Cavaliers has been no slouch this season either. They are top 10 in opponents points per game, opponents field goal percentage, turnovers forced, and opponents rebounds.
Players Leading the Charge For Cleveland
Cleveland Cavaliers Shooting Guard Donovan Mitchell is 17th in the league in points per game while his sidekick Point Guard Darius Garland is ninth in the league in assists. The Cavaliers also feature a dynamic duo of big men, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Allen is ninth in the league in rebounding while Mobley is 21st. This duo is also in the top 20 in the NBA in blocks. With Mitchell, Garland, Allen, and Mobley leading the Cleveland Cavaliers, the season should be a successful one.
Final Thoughts
The Cleveland Cavaliers aim for their 16th straight victory, and the second-best start to a season in league history, when they visit the defending champion Boston Celtics on Tuesday night. It will be Cleveland’s toughest test to date of the season. Cleveland hosts the New Orleans Pelicans in the second half of a back-to-back on Wednesday and the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
Cleveland will not be able to keep up this torrid pace but has seemingly solidified itself as a worthy adversary for the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference. The Cavaliers will look to exact revenge on a Celtics team that knocked them out of the Eastern Conference Semifinals in five games with three of the four Celtics wins decided by double figures. It is a new year in “The Land” and the Cleveland Cavaliers are the lone undefeated team standing in the National Basketball Association.
