The Cleveland Cavaliers open a home-and-home series against the visiting Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday trying to extend their perfect start in Ohio.
The Cavaliers, who visit the Hawks on Friday, rebounded from their lone loss of the season last week with decisive victories over the New Orleans Pelicans and Toronto Raptors.
Cleveland improved to a sterling 17-1 overall and 10-0 at home following its 122-108 victory over the Raptors on Sunday.
“I’m surprised by the (record), but I’m not surprised by the play style,” Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen said, per The Cleveland Plain Dealer. “I’ve expected us to come out and play like we do, play at a high level. Still, 17-1 is incredible.”
Ty Jerome followed up his 29-point performance in the Cavaliers’ 128-100 victory over the Pelicans on Wednesday with 26 points off the bench against Toronto. He is 19-for-33 from the field and 11-for-20 from 3-point range in the last two games.
“He’s just in a state of grace right now. It’s beautiful to watch,” Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said.
Jerome has scored at least 24 points in three of his last four games.
“I just keep doing my job, and that’s just reading the game,” he said. “And if I have space I’m going to shoot it. I think just think the more guys you have on court that are aggressive, it gives Donovan (Mitchell) space, it gives Darius (Garland) space, it gives Evan (Mobley) space. We’re putting four or five guys out there that are all aggressive, and it’s like, what’s the defense going to do?”
Mitchell, who averages a team-best 24.4 points per game, pumped in 26 points versus the Raptors. He averaged 26.7 points, 8.7 assists and 7.3 rebounds in three games against Atlanta last season.
Jarrett Allen added 23 points and 13 rebounds to record his sixth straight double-double.
While the Cavaliers have raced to the top of the standings, the Hawks have fallen a few notches down the ladder after dropping their third straight game on Monday.
Jalen Johnson collected 28 points and 11 rebounds and Trae Young added 18 points and 16 assists in a 129-119 setback to the Dallas Mavericks. Young has recorded a double-digit assist total in four straight games and in seven of his last nine.
That said, Young admitted to being flustered by a basic defense employed by Dallas.
“It’s tough,” Young said, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We’re taking a lot of twos; we’re taking a lot of mid-range shots. I hate that they played a lot of a high-school defense — zone — and it worked. That should never work: going into the zone and being able to stop us.”
Bogdan Bogdanovic followed up a 16-point performance in a 136-122 setback to the Chicago Bulls on Friday by scoring a season-high 18 points versus the Mavericks. He made 14 of 26 shots from the floor in those two games after going 4-for-21 in his previous two contests.