Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, right, and guard Darius Garland, center, talk with injured Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero, left, following their NBA basketball game, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP PhotoSue Ogrocki)
Darius Garland scored 25 points and Donovan Mitchell added 22 as the Cleveland Cavaliers remained unbeaten with a 120-109 win over the visiting Orlando Magic in the NBA on Friday.
Cleveland has won its first six games to start the season, matching the franchise’s best start since 2016-17.
Cleveland's new Head Coach Kenny Atkinson has the @cavs HUMMING as they move to 6-0 to start the season đź‘Ź
They're the first team to start 6-0 since the 2022-23 Milwaukee Bucks, who started 9-0! pic.twitter.com/DGJiGHSAx0
— NBA (@NBA) November 2, 2024
Evan Mobley had 14 points and 12 rebounds, Caris LeVert scored 13, and Jarrett Allen grabbed 11 rebounds for Cleveland, which has scored at least 110 points in all six games under new coach Kenny Atkinson.
READ: NBA: Cavaliers crush Lakers to improve to 5-0
Cleveland led wire-to-wire in a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference first-round playoff series, which the Cavaliers won in seven games.
Orlando trailed by as many as 22 points in the third quarter and lost its second straight game. Jalen Suggs scored a career-high 28 points, Franz Wagner and Tristan da Silva added 17 apiece, and Moritz Wagner had 14.
The Magic were without All-Star forward Paolo Banchero, who suffered a torn right oblique in a loss to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday. Banchero will be re-evaluated in four-to-six weeks.
Orlando also played minus Goga Bitadze (left foot tendon strain) and Wendell Carter Jr, who was ruled out prior to the game due to right knee tendinitis.
READ: NBA: Kenny Atkinson signs 5-year contract to coach Cavaliers
Mitchell scored 13 points in the first quarter to help give the Cavaliers a 34-16 lead. Cleveland shot 62 percent from the field for the period.
Orlando missed 23 consecutive 3-point attempts dating back to Wednesday’s game at Chicago before Jett Howard’s trey with just under 10 minutes left in the second quarter cut the deficit to 36-21.
Mitchell had 17 points in the first half to lead the Cavaliers, who took a 63-44 lead into intermission after closing on an 8-0 run.
Cleveland extended its lead to 70-48 with 8:40 left in the third quarter before Orlando battled back and pulled within 10 points late in the period.
The Cavaliers closed the third quarter on an 11-4 run and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the final period.
Ty Jerome chipped in nine points for the Cavaliers, who shot 50.6 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from beyond the arc. –Field Level Media