A depleted 76ers lineup gave it a valiant shot.
But the Cleveland Cavaliers prevailed again on Wednesday, rallying from a 54-48 halftime deficit to hold off Philadelphia for a 114-106 win. With the win, 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 single-season wins in NBA history.
That historic season didn’t produce a championship. LeBron James’ Cavaliers upset the Warriors in the NBA Finals that season for the franchise’s only championship. For now, these Cavaliers can continue to enjoy their own bit of 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 triple-double. He hit three 3-pointers in the game’s final three minutes 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 unbeaten streak center alongside Evan Mobley, who’s 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 distance.
The 76ers played with a makeshift starting lineup as All-Stars Joel Embiid, Paul George and and Tyrese Maxey all sat in street clothes. Backup center Andre Drummond was a late scratch with an illness.
Embiid and George both sat with what the team designated as “injury management” on the second night of a back-to-back. Both played in Tuesday’s loss to the New York Knicks as Embiid made his season debut. Maxey missed the game with a hamstring injury that’s expected to sideline him for multiple weeks.
Guerschon Yabusele, Caleb Martin, Kyle Lowry, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Jared McCain started for Philadelphia with the team’s All-Stars sidelined. 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 overcome the red-hot Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers will look to extend their streak again when they host the Chicago Bulls on Friday.