The Cleveland Cavaliers extended their undefeated streak with a 128-114 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday, becoming only the fourth team in NBA history to win 15 straight games to begin a season.

Cleveland joins the 1948-49 Washington Capitols (15-0), 1993-94 Houston Rockets (15-0) and 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (24-0) on the list of teams to accomplish the feat.

Darius Garland led the Cavs with 25 points, 12 assists and five rebounds, while Ty Jerome added 24 points and Evan Mobley put up 23 points with 11 assists. Mobley had the play of the night when he blocked Hornets forward Brandon Miller’s dunk attempt with two minutes remaining.

MOBLEY BLOCK.
GARLAND 3-BALL.

CAVS CLOSING IN ON 15-0 👀👀 pic.twitter.com/XiFU78W5lt

— NBA (@NBA) November 18, 2024

Cleveland scored 72 points in the first half and led the entire game. With the win, the Cavs also improved to 8-0 at home at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse as the Hornets dropped to 5-8.

The Cavaliers notched their 14th consecutive win Friday night against the Chicago Bulls for a franchise record. Donovan Mitchell, who sat out Sunday’s game to rest, scored a season-high 37 points in Friday’s 144-126 victory.

Before this season, the Cavs had three 13-game winning streaks with LeBron James on the roster in the 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.

Cleveland’s next game is its biggest test: A Tuesday road game against the defending champion Boston Celtics in the NBA Cup.

Cavaliers’ start isn’t a fluke

The Cavs are proving night after night this start isn’t a fluke. They are a rising power in the NBA.

They sat Mitchell against the Hornets and scored 128 points. They played the Bulls without Mobley on Friday and scored 148. They’ve scored 130 points or more six times already this season, a franchise record, and they were a basket shy Sunday from making it seven.

15 @cavs wins 🔥🔥🔥

Their BEST PLAY from each win! pic.twitter.com/nP5oVCtOaI

— NBA (@NBA) November 18, 2024

Cleveland had four players score at least 20 points each of the last two games and coach Kenny Atkinson’s 15 wins to start a career with a new team is a league record. — Jason Lloyd, Cleveland senior columnist

What’s changed since last season?

Atkinson has overhauled an offense that played slow last year and relied too heavily on stale pick and rolls. The Cavaliers are getting into their actions quicker, they’ve dramatically increased the cutting, screening and passing from last year and have shooters in the corners, multiple playmakers and elite ball handlers.

They have the league’s highest offensive rating and still rank in the top 10 defensively. The Cavs play fast and their ball movement creates wide-open looks — and they’re making them. Atkinson keeps cautioning that they’re shooting above their heads and eventually the numbers will stabilize, but it hasn’t happened yet.

Cleveland leads the league in 3-point shooting percentage and entered Sunday shooting 50 percent on wide-open 3s (nearest defender at least 6 feet away). The team is creating those looks with a drive/kick/swing offense that Draymond Green recently praised as similar to the style the Golden State Warriors have used to carve teams up for a decade.

Boston will provide their stiffest test Tuesday, but regardless of the outcome, the Cavs are growing into a monster in the East that will be problematic to opponents for years to come. — Lloyd

Required reading

(Photo: Ken Blaze / Imagn Images)