No Donovan Mitchell? No problem for Cavaliers as they tie their team record with 15th straight win

CLEVELAND (AP) — The wins and accomplishments keep piling up for the NBA-leading Cleveland Cavaliers. They’ve been so frequent that players are having a hard time keeping track.

“What did we do? Oh, we clinched the Central Division,” center Jarrett Allen said, chuckling. “That’s something. We had fun tonight. We still celebrate the little things.”

There was nothing little about the Cavaliers’ 109-104 victory over Brooklyn on Tuesday.

Cleveland tied its franchise record for consecutive wins with 15 — after setting the mark in the first 15 games of the season — and is tied for the fifth-best start in NBA history at 55-10.

Even with All-Star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell (left groin soreness), sixth man De’Andre Hunter (illness) and sharpshooter Ty Jerome (rest) in street clothes on the bench, the Cavaliers rallied from an 18-point deficit in the second half against the Nets.

All-Star point guard Darius Garland, who scored 18 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, said Mitchell’s message to him was concise during the comeback.

“Shoot the ball,” he said. “Quote, end quote.”

Having spent his entire career with Cleveland, Garland sought out team president of basketball operations Koby Altman in the locker room. The Cavaliers’ last division crown occurred before he was drafted in 2019.

“I asked Koby if there was going to be a banner in the practice facility,” Garland said. “We don’t take regular-season games lightly, but the reality is we haven’t won anything yet. The main thing, our main focus is trying to stay healthy.”

Injuries to Mitchell and Allen during the 2024 playoffs were a crushing blow to Cleveland in its five-game loss to eventual champion Boston in the East semifinals.

First-year coach Kenny Atkinson stressed that Mitchell’s current ailment is not serious and plans on continuing to give his key players nights off as the regular season winds down.

“To win 15 straight games at this juncture, there is fatigue, so it’s really quite an accomplishment,” Atkinson said. “After doing it our first 15 games, it’s remarkable. We want bigger things, but we’ll look back on this and say it’s a pretty big accomplishment.”

Next on the Cavaliers’ checklist is locking up the No. 1 seed in the East. They are eight games in front of the second-place Celtics with 17 remaining and hold a two-game advantage over West-leading Oklahoma City for the best record in the NBA.

Cleveland’s home-court advantage has been overwhelming at Rocket Arena, where it also has the top mark in the league at 30-4.

“Their confidence and the swagger they’re playing with, you can see it in close games,” Brooklyn coach Jordi Fernandez said. “They’re very well coached and it’s fun to watch them play. It helps the business of the NBA.”

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