NBA
Cleveland Cavaliers looking to keep unbeaten record intact as they travel to Boston
The Cavs are 15-0 for the season so far but on Tuesday, arguably face their biggest test at the TD Garden.
With their win against Charlotte Hornets on Sunday, the Cleveland Cavaliers became the fourth team in league history to achieve a 15-0 winning streak to start a season.
Now, Kenny Atkinson’s men face potentially their biggest test of the new season so far as they travel to the TD Garden and face reigning NBA champions Boston Celtics in the NBA Cup.
The match-up offers the Cavs an opportunity to avenge defeat in last season’s playoffs with the Celtics too strong for Cleveland with the eventual champions winning the best of seven series 4-1.
Tonight, however, the Cavs can count on the services of All-Star Donovan Mitchell with the 28-year-old ruled out of the final two conference semifinal games with a calf injury.
‘Great for the NBA’
Speaking ahead of the game, Cavs head coach Atkinson claimed: “It’s great for the NBA, right? Everybody is going to be watching, and I know our guys are anxious. I know they remember last year. We’re going well. They’re going well. It’s great for the league. Great for our franchise. We’re excited.”
The only other three teams to put together start to a season were, Golden State Warriors (2015-16), Houston Rockets (1993-94) and Washington Capitols (1948-49).
Only the 2015-16 Warriors extended their winning streak to 16 games as they went 24-0 in 2015-16 before losing their first game.
‘Big test’ claims Atkinson
Cleveland beat Chicago 144-126 in their first NBA Cup game last Friday with the Celtics falling to Atlanta in their opening game of the in-tournament competition.
“It’s going to be a big test for us,” Atkinson said. “They obviously play a different style, five-out with five shooters, so it’s going to be a real good test for us. We’re at that point right now -- 15-0 and let’s test ourselves against the best and see where we stand and see where we’re going to make adjustments or not make adjustments.”
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