The Cleveland Cavaliers continued their perfect start to the NBA season in sensational style on Friday, seizing a 41-point halftime lead on the way to a 136-117 rout of the Golden State Warriors.
The Cavs improved to 10-0, ending the Warriors’ five-game winning streak and handing them their first road defeat of the season.
The damage was done early, the Cavs’ 83 first-half points tying a franchise record for most scored in any half and their 41-point halftime lead the biggest in team history.
Against the Warriors’ second-ranked defense, the Cavs posted their fifth game of the young season with at least 130 points.
That ties a team record for the most 130-plus point games for an entire season.
“Ten-0 is a magic number,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said. “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.”
Darius Garland scored 27 points, Evan Mobley added 23 and Ty Jerome chipped in 20 off the bench as six Cavs players scored in double figures against a Warriors defense that came in ranked second in the league.
Meanwhile, they kept the potentially explosive Warriors offense in check, opening the game on a 20-2 scoring run.
“The way we came out tonight — that surprised me, how ready we were, how hungry we were,” Atkinson said.
Andrew Wiggins with nine points and Stephen Curry with seven were the only Warriors starters to score before the break.
Golden State were able to adjust after the break, out-scoring the Cavs 41-29 in the third quarter.
“First half, can’t play much better than that,” Atkinson said. “But second half, way we came out, they scored 13 points in the first three minutes. It was a little frustrating.”
The Warriors, however, were in too deep a hole.
Jonathan Kuminga led Golden State with 21 points off the bench, Curry finished with 12 on five-of-10 shooting, making just one from three-point range.
“We’ve got to execute better,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Thirteen turnovers in the first half — we were completely disorganized.”
– Celtics edge Nets –
In Boston, Jayson Tatum scored 33 points to lead the Celtics in a 107-102 overtime victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who led by as many as 14 in the first half and didn’t surrender the lead until the fourth quarter.
In Detroit, Cade Cunningham drove for the go-ahead basket with 8.5 seconds left to play in the Pistons’ 122-121 victory over Atlanta, then sealed the victory with a block on a driving Onyeka Okongwu.
Cunningham finished with a triple-double of 22 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists with a steal and the game-saving block.
Jusuf Nurkic’s free throw with eight-tenths of a second remaining lifted the Phoenix Suns to a 114-113 victory over the Mavericks in Dallas.
Kevin Durant scored 26 points and Nurkic added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Suns, who notched a seventh straight victory to improve to 8-1.
“It’s been fun,” Durant said of the Suns start. “(It has) definitely been nerve-wracking with the tight games we’ve been in, but I think that’s great for our team to understand what it’s like in crunch time.”
Luka Doncic scored 30 points and Kyrie Irving added 29 for Dallas, who have now lost twice this season to Phoenix.
In New York, Karl-Anthony Towns scored 32 points for the Knicks, who led by as many as 30 in a 116-94 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Milwaukee, who trailed all the way.
