Cavaliers beats Hornets 128-114, Mavericks survives Thunder

Darius Garland scored 25 points and Ty Jerome matched his career-high with 24 as the Cleveland Cavaliers stayed unbeaten with a 128-114 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night.

The Cavs is 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.

Elsewhere, Dallas Mavericks survived a scare to beat Oklahoma City Thunder 121-119 with the absence of guard Luka Doncic.

In a rematch of their Western Conference semifinal series, the Mavs led early but almost gave it away in the final moments.

P.J. Washington had 27 points,17 rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. Kyrie Irving scored 23 points with one rebound and six assists.

But Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a game-high 36 points, including a big shot late in the fourth quarter that had all the Mavs fans worried. 

Mavericks coach Jason Kidd did not say how long Doncic would be out due to a knee injury. The guard is averaging 28.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.8 assists, and  played a season-low 28 minutes on Saturday night in a win over San Antonio.