By ASSOCIATED PRESS
CLEVELAND (AP) — Darius Garland scored 25 points, Ty Jerome matched his career-high with 24 in place of Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers stayed unbeaten with a 128-114 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night, Nov. 17.
The Cavs are the fourth team to start 15-0, joining the Golden State Warriors (2016), Houston Rockets (1994) and Washington Capitols (1949). The Warriors set the league record by winning their first 24 games on the way to a 73-9 season.
Evan Mobley had 23 points and 11 rebounds and Jarrett Allen had 21 and 15 rebounds for Cleveland, which will play at defending champion Boston on Tuesday.
Although they wanted to keep their winning streak alive, the Cavs felt getting Mitchell rest was more important. It’s a long season with bigger games ahead, and first-year coach Kenny Atkinson, who has yet to lose with Cleveland, said sticking to the plan with Mitchell was a priority.
LaMelo Ball had 31 points and 12 assists, and Miles Bridges scored 19 for the Hornets.
Earlier, Ball was fined $100,000 by the NBA for making “an offensive and derogatory comment” during an interview following Saturday’s win at Milwaukee.
In Oklahoma City, P.J. Washington had 27 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, and the Dallas Mavericks held off the Thunder, 121-119, without star guard Luka Doncic.
Washington averaged just over eight points and seven rebounds per game entering Sunday’s game but stepped up in the absence of Doncic, who was out with a bruised right knee.
The Mavericks’ offense purred anyway. Kyrie Irving scored 23 points and helped Dallas shoot 48% from the field.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 36 points and Jalen Williams added 27 for the Thunder, who entered the night with a Western Conference-best 11-2 record. The Thunder are now 3-1 without Chet Holmgren.
After trailing 112-98 with just over six minutes remaining, Oklahoma City rallied and got it to 121-118. Gilgeous-Alexander tied up Irving with 8 seconds remaining and forced a jump ball, which Gilgeous-Alexander won, and Oklahoma City called timeout with 6.6 seconds left.
The Mavericks fouled Gilgeous-Alexander with 4.3 seconds remaining. He made the first free throw but missed the second, and Lu Dort missed an off-balance contested 3-pointer at the buzzer.
In Washington, Cade Cunningham had 21 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds to lead the Detroit Pistons over the Washington Wizards, 124-104.
Jaden Ivey scored 28 points and Malik Beasley added 26 for Detroit. Cunningham has four triple-doubles this season, two behind league leader Nikola Jokic.
It was the eighth straight loss for Washington, which was home after a five-game trip. Jordan Poole and Kyle Kuzma scored 22 points apiece for the Wizards.
In New York, Karl-Anthony Towns returned from a one-game absence with 26 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, and the Knicks completed a two-game weekend sweep of the Brooklyn Nets with a 114-104 victory.
OG Anunoby had 24 points and eight rebounds for the Knicks, who were without Towns because of a bruised left knee when they beat the Nets 124-122 on Friday on Jalen Brunson’s 3-pointer with 6.2 seconds remaining.
Earlier in Chicago, Fred VanVleet scored a season-high 28 points, Alperen Sengun had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his second triple-double this season and the Houston Rockets routed the Bulls, 143-107, for their fifth straight win.
Jalen Green scored 18 points as all five Houston starters reached double figures, and the Rockets topped their previous season-high in points (128). Amen Thompson played despite right quad soreness and added 16 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.
