With its 15-0 start, the surging Cleveland Cavaliers have tied the 1948-49 Washington Capitols (remember them?) and the 1993-94 Houston Rockets for the second best start in NBA history.
(Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images)
With its 128-114 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night, coach Kenny Atkinson’s club surpassed the 2002-03 Dallas Mavericks and the 1957-58 Boston Celtics at No. 3 onn the all-time list. The best start ever? That would be the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, who started out an amazing 24-0 before going on to win a NBA single-season record 73 games.
Even though the Warriors went 73-9, they fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers in one of the most highly-anticipated NBA Finals series ever.
What The Cavs’ Start Means
Of those teams mentioned above with historically great starts to a season, only the Hakeem Olajuwon-led 1993-94 Rockets won the NBA title. The 2002-03 Dallas Mavericks, led by future NBA MVPs Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki, went 60-22 and advanced to the
Western Conference Finals, where they fell to the eventual NBA champ San Antonio Spurs.
They were not memorable by any means and the 73-9 Warriors are now famously known for blowing a 3-1 series lead to a Cleveland Cavs team that won the first and only title for the snake-bitten sports city.
So what does the hot start mean for this year’s Cavs team?
Considering the 1958-49 Capitols made the NBA Finals, the 1957-58 Celtics lost in the finals to the St. Louis Hawks and followed up with a string of eight consecutive NBA titles and the five other teams that started 14-0 or better were very good, it bodes well for Cleveland. If history is any indication, it won’t fall off far, if at all, the rest of the regular season and will make a deep run in the
NBA playoffs.
What the Cavs need to focus on is taking one game at a time and playing their brand of basketball, and not compromising their rotation for the sake of eyeing Golden State’s amazing 24-0 start. Obviously, the goal is to remain relatively injury free and to peak at the right time in the post-season, not during the regular season.
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Cleveland Cavaliers Current NBA 2024-25 Season Stats
| Overall |
GP |
PTS |
FG% |
3P% |
FT% |
REB |
AST |
STL |
BLK |
+/- |
| 2024-25 |
15 |
123.7 |
52.4% |
41.9% |
78.5% |
42.1 |
28.4 |
9.3 |
5.1 |
12.3 |
*Stats as of November 18th
When Will The Streak End?
The Cavs will drop a game at some point, but more importantly, will look to avoid a “funk” of five or so games down the line where they lose three or four of five. On Sunday evening vs. the Hornets, Cleveland rested All-NBA candidate Donovan Mitchell and still came away with a big victory as Atkinson continues to get productive minutes from his bench.
Tuesday brings a big test for Cleveland as it travels to Boston to meet the defending NBA champion Celtics, currently 11-3 and in second place in the Eastern Conference behind the Cavs. The game will be nationally televised by TNT and for many fans will be the first in-depth look at this surging team. The Cavs look forward to the challenge in order to test where they stand against a team with a championship pedigree.
Cavs Fully Healthy?
One of the storylines for Tuesday's Cavs-Celtics showdown is the health of Cleveland small forward Isaac Okoro and power forward Dean Wade. Both left the Charlotte game with ankle injuries and are listed as day-to-day. As of now, the Celtics are listed as a -3.5 point favorite and -168 on the money line, so this is definitely a statement game for a Cavs team we projected to go 50-32 in the preseason.
The Five Best Teams That Come Up Short
It’s still a bit early to get a real read on just how good the 2024-25 Cavaliers team is, but we wanted to give some perspective because great starts don’t mean a thing, as the 2015-16 Warriors will always be remembered for. That Golden State core of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green did win plenty though, so in light of that we decided to take a quick look at the five teams we consider the greatest that never won a NBA title with a core group.
This would eliminate the 1967-68 Philadelphia 76ers (62-20) and, of course, the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors. Philadelphia ended Boston’s run of titles the year before and Golden State won four NBA titles with its core.
2001-2002 Sacramento Kings
Record: 61-21 Result: Lost in Western Conference Finals, 3-4 (Los Angeles Lakers)
Synopsis: This team was ultra-talented and in our eyes a more talented team than the eventual champion Lakers. This was one of the most highly-anticipated conference finals ever and Sacramento had home court advantage over the Lakers. Chris Webber, Mike Bibby and Peja Stojakovic were in their primes and had a great supporting cast.
The Kings went up 3-2 and had the final two games at home, but were the unfortunate victims of what most veteran observers felt was the worst officiated game in NBA history in Game 6. The Kings lost that game, 106-102, even though the Lakers attempted 18 more free throws than the Kings in the fourth quarter alone and 40-27 in L.A.’s favor for the game.
The last four games of the series came down to the final seconds and Game 7 went into overtime. The way it played out is still a hard pill to swallow for Sacramento fans and is a stain on the league.
1992-1993 Phoenix Suns
Record: 62-20 Result: Lost in NBA Finals, 2-4 (Chicago Bulls)
Synopsis: Charles Barkley was going to leave Philadelphia after the 1991-92 season and if Magic Johnson had not announced to the world he was HIV positive in Nov. ‘91, there is a good chance Sir Charles joins the Lakers for the twilight of Magic’s career. As it worked out, he joined the Suns and wanted to make sure Danny Ainge was with him. Barkley wanted a winner to join him on a talented team.
The Suns had all-star point guard in Kevin Johnson, a healthy and drug free Richard Dumas who could athletically match up with the Bull’s Scottie Pippen, a talented shooting guard in Dan Majerle and good role players. Even though Barkley had a career year and was named
NBA MVP, what the Suns didn’t have was anyone who could slow down the Bulls’ Michael Jordan at the height of his powers.
He averaged 41.0 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 6.3 apg and 1.7 spg in the NBA Finals and demoralized the Suns each time it looked like they had hopes of winning. Dumas was never really a factor for the Suns again and K.J. battled injuries over the next two seasons.
1999-2000 Portland Trail Blazers
Record: 59-23 Result: Lost in Western Conference Finals, 3-4 (Los Angeles Lakers)
Synopsis: Talk about talented, wow, Portland was that. It did finish in second place in the Pacific Division behind the Lakers, but was championship-caliber in every sense of the word. We’re not sure we’ve seen a deeper club that never won a title. Scottie Pippen had a third chance to show the world he could lead a team without Michael Jordan (the first came in 1994 and a few years later with the Houston Rockets) and this team had all the ingredients.
With Pippen, Arvydas Sabonis and Damon Stoudamire they passed well, were good defensively and had scoring punch. Portland let one game slip away early in the series and in Game 7 had a 13-point lead to start the fourth quarter and clearly unraveled down the stretch. Portland was outscored 31-13 in the fourth quarter.
Some will point to the Lakers getting the benefit of the doubt at the free throw line (37-16 advantage), but the Blazers clearly tightened up. They made a series of mistakes and gave away a great opportunity to win the NBA title. Did we mention how talented they were?
2006-2007 Phoenix Suns
Record: 61-21 Result: Lost in Western Conference Semifinals, 2-4 (San Antonio Spurs)
Synopsis: Phoenix won 62 games in 2004-05, but were last in points allowed while finishing first in points scored. Two years later, however, the Suns were better defensively, finishing 23rd in points allowed and 13th in defensive rating. Steve Nash was coming off back-to-back NBA MVP seasons and the rest of the core was in its prime: all-star forward Shawn Marion, all-star center A’mare Stoudamire, plus 6th man of the year Leandro Barbosa.
The 2006-07 Dallas Mavericks went 67-15, but similar to the 1993-94 Seattle Sonics (who went a league best 63-19). lost in the first round and no team can be considered that great losing in the first round. A handful of unfortunate mishaps derailed the Suns in a conference semifinal series versus the eventual NBA champion Spurs (which also knocked off Phoenix two years earlier and also won the title).
Nash busted his noise and couldn’t get it to stop bleeding properly in a Game 1 loss, and Stoudemire and Boris Diaw were suspended for Game 5 with the series tied 2-2 for leaving the bench area during an altercation. Disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy worked his last game in this series and wrote in his book that the series was poorly officiated. We’ll let you decide what that means.
1980-1981 Milwaukee Bucks
Record: 60-22 Result: Lost in Eastern Conference Semifinals, 3-4 (Philadelphia 76ers)
Synopsis: Larry Bird and Dr. J ruled the roost in the 1980s
Eastern Conference
and it’s easy to forget Milwaukee had some terrific teams between 1981-1987. We chose 1981 because that team posted the best record in a Bucks’ run under Don Nelson, had a prime Marques Johnson and only one key starter over 30 years old in future hall of fame Bob Lanier (then 32).
Milwaukee was second in offensive rating (108.7) and third in defensive rating (101.8) and were talented enough to win the title. It just ran into a talented 76ers team that won Game 7 by a single point (99-98) despite Johnson’s 36 points and nine rebounds.
The 76ers blew a 3-1 series lead the next round to the eventual champ Boston Celtics. Philadelphia also eliminated the Bucks from the post-season in 1982, 1983and 1985, while Bird’s Celtics took them out in 1984, 1986 and 1987.
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