By ASSOCIATED PRESS
CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored a season-high 37 points, Darius Garland had 29 and the Cleveland Cavaliers continued one of the best starts in league history, improving to 14-0 with a 144-126 win over the Chicago Bulls on Friday night, Nov. 15, in an NBA Cup game.
The Cavs are the sixth team to go 14-0 and first since the Golden State Warriors opened 24-0 in 2015-16.
Cleveland’s 14-game winning streak is the longest in the club’s 55-year existence. The Cavs won 13 in a row three times when LeBron James played for them.
Jarrett Allen added 24 points and Caris LeVert had 22 for the Cavs, who have been perfect under first-year coach Kenny Atkinson.
Coby White scored 29 and Nikola Vucevic had 25 for the Bulls, who were still within four points on Ayo Dosunmu’s dunk with 2:55 left. However, LeVert and Mitchell dropped 3-pointers as the Cavs blitzed the Bulls 21-7 the rest of the way.
The Cavs played without starting forward Evan Mobley, who has been battling an illness the past few days.
In San Francisco, Draymond Green had 13 points, eight rebounds and seven assists before a late ejection after two technical fouls in a 33-second span, and the Golden State Warriors beat the Memphis Grizzlies. 123-118, in a physical NBA Cup game.
Stephen Curry overcame a slow start to finish with 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Buddy Hield had 18 points and Moses Moody scored 14.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 32 points for Memphis in a matchup of teams with deep rotations who rely heavily on their reserves.
Curry, who had scored 36 and 37 points the past two games, respectively, shot 4 for 9 with three 3-pointers.
In San Antonio, Anthony Davis had 40 points and 12 rebounds, LeBron James had 15 points, 16 rebounds and 12 assists and the Los Angeles Lakers opened defense of their Emirates NBA Cup title with a 120-115 victory over the Spurs.
James had his career-high fourth straight triple-double.
Victor Wembanyama had 28 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and two blocks for San Antonio. On Wednesday night, he had a career-high 50 points in a 139-130 home victory over Washington.
Davis shot 14 for 26, making 2 of 4 3-pointers, in his highest-scoring game of the season. Austin Reaves added 19 points, Dalton Knecht had 14 and D’Angelo Russell 13.
In Houston, Jabari Smith Jr. had a season-high 28 points with five 3-pointers and the Rockets never trailed in a 125-104 rout of the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night in their NBA Cup opener.
It was Houston’s season-high fourth straight victory and the team’s second straight over the Clippers after getting a 111-103 win Wednesday night.
The Rockets led comfortably throughout and used a big run in the third quarter to enter the fourth leading by 19.
Earlier, Brandon Ingram scored 29 points to lift the New Orleans Pelicans to a 101-94 victory over the Denver Nuggets, who played without three-time MVP Nikola Jokic.
Ingram twisted his left ankle in the second half but stayed in the game to help the injury-riddled Pelicans snap a six-game skid and end the Nuggets’ five-game winning streak.
In Oklahoma, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the short-handed Phoenix Suns, 99-83, in an NBA Cup game.
Lu Dort had 15 points and nine rebounds, Jalen Williams added 14 points and eight rebounds and Isaiah Joe scored 11 points to help Oklahoma City improve to 11-2.
