While the Oklahoma City Thunder are on a 12-game winning streak, the Cleveland Cavaliers still have the best record in the NBA after beating head coach JJ Redick and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Cavs’ 15-0 start is the best in franchise history, and after a 122-110 win against the Lakers, they improved to 29-4.
After the win, Redick had an interesting take on facing the Cavaliers, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
“JJ Redick says you have to play “close to perfect basketball” if you expect to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers this season,” McMenamin reported.
The Lakers did their best to achieve that feat, finishing with only eight turnovers while three of their five starters scored 23+ points. These included Austin Reaves’ near triple-double (35 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds), Anthony Davis’ double-double (28 points, 13 rebounds), and LeBron James (23 points).
“They have some really good shot makers on their team, and overall, our defense, in terms of execution, physicality, was good,” Redick said. “You think about some of those threes they made and some of the threes we missed; obviously, we would have generated 11 more. It’s really the difference in the game. If you’re going to have that level of disparity from the three-point line, the only way to really counteract that is to get a real high amount of free-throw attempts.”
The Lakers finished 17-of-19 from the free-throw line, including 7-for-7 in the final frame, midway through the fourth, but didn’t make another trip to the charity stripe down the stretch. Meanwhile, the Cavs extended their lead to double figures. Shooting has been an ongoing issue for Los Angeles. The Lakers finished 9-of-35 (25.7%) from deep.
Jarrett Allen’s double-double (27 points, 14 rebounds) led the Cavaliers. Donovan Mitchell finished with 26 points, and Evan Mobley added 20 points and six rebounds. Cleveland connected on 18-of-46 from behind the arc.
Cavs set a franchise record in a win vs the Nuggets
David Richard-Imagn Images
The Cavs made franchise history versus the Nuggets, beating them 149-135 and setting a record for most points scored in regulation. The most they had scored before then was 154 in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers in 1980 that went into a fourth overtime period.
Donovan Mitchell’s 28 points led four Cavs players in double figures, including Darius Garland (24), Caris LeVert (21), and Evan Mobley (20).
The Cavs are also first in the NBA in three-point percentage (40.7%) while sixth in the league in three-point attempts (39.9%). They’ve improved to 29-4, are on an eight-game winning streak, and have secured 11 wins in 12 tries.
