Darius Garland scored 25 points and Donovan Mitchell took over as the Cleveland Cavaliers remained undefeated with a 114-106 victory over the shorthanded Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday.
Mitchell finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists for Cleveland (13-0), marking the NBA’s best start since the Golden State Warriors’ record-breaking 24-game winning streak to start the 2015-16 season. The Cavaliers struggled through much of the first half in this half before making several big shots when it mattered most.
Philadelphia fought hard without Joel Embiid (knee), Paul George (knee) and Tyrese Maxey (hamstring), but still lost for the ninth time in eleven games this season. The 76ers played back-to-back nights after losing to the New York Knicks on Tuesday.
Rookie Jared McCain took advantage of the available playing time by scoring a career-high 34 points, while Kelly Oubre Jr. had 20 and Caleb Martin had 18 points.
With Cleveland clinging to a 103-100 lead with less than three minutes to play, Mitchell drained three-pointers on consecutive possessions to put the Cavaliers ahead 109-102. He added a step-back three-pointer with 1:18 left and then drove for a layup to make it 114-104 with about a minute left.
Both teams made five 3-pointers in the first quarter – the Cavs needed just eight attempts – while Cleveland led 31-27 after one period.
The Sixers started the second quarter on a 12-1 run. Reggie Jackson scored eight of those points for the hosts, while Martin had the other four. Philadelphia led by as many as eight points in the second quarter and had a 54-48 advantage going into the locker room.
Early in the third quarter, Cleveland scored 10 straight points, punctuated by Garland’s floater, to turn a seven-point deficit into a 62–59 lead. Garland scored 13 points in the third quarter for the visitors, who led 82-78 after three periods.
Mitchell found Ty Jerome for a 3-pointer on the first possession of the fourth quarter and then drained a jumper on the next trip to grow Cleveland’s cushion to 87-78. However, Philadelphia pulled away and closed within 95-93 on Oubre’s layup with 6:47 to play.