CLEVELAND – Darius Garland scored 25 points, Ty Jerome matched his career high with 24 in place of Donovan Mitchell, and the Cleveland Cavaliers remained undefeated with a 128-114 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night.

The Cavs are the fourth team to start 15-0 and are tied for the second-best start to a season in NBA history, trailing only the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (24-0 ). The Warriors set the league record by winning their first 24 games en route to a 73-9 season.

The 2015-16 Warriors, the 1993-94 Houston Rockets (started 15-0) and the 1948-49 Washington Capitols (15-0) all reached the NBA Finals.

Evan Mobley had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Jarrett Allen had 21 points and 15 rebounds for Cleveland, marking the second time the Cavaliers had four 20-point scorers in consecutive games in franchise history, and the first time since 1972.

The Cavs also extended the longest winning streak in team history and have given Cleveland sports fans something to be excited about in the middle of a football season that long ago crashed for the Browns.

“It’s unbelievable,” Allen said of the way the city has embraced the Cavs. “Everyone is showing a lot of energy, all over the city. It’s incredible how Cleveland has adopted us. They come to every game and scream about everything. The city of Cleveland is behind us.”

While they wanted to keep their winning streak alive, the Cavs felt it was more important to rest Mitchell. It’s a long season with bigger games ahead, and first-year coach Kenny Atkinson, who has yet to lose to Cleveland, said sticking to the plan with Mitchell was a priority.

The Cavaliers barely missed a loss without Mitchell, who posted a season-high 37-point performance. One of the many positives of the winning streak is that it allows Atkinson to further develop his bench.

As was the case in almost every game, the Cavs got positive minutes and moments from everyone Atkinson put on the floor. They also overcame some adversity when both Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade were forced off with ankle injuries in the second half. Wade, who has made seven starts, left Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in a walking boot.

The Cavaliers will put their perfect start on the line against the defending champion Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Tuesday.

“Boston Garden,” Atkinson said. “What’s better than that?”

The way NBA games go in November, not much.

This marks the fourth time in NBA history that a team with a winning streak of more than 15 games has faced the defending NBA champions, and the first time since the Chicago Bulls faced the Rockets in 1996. One such instance occurred in 1972, when the Los Angeles Lakers saw their NBA-record 33-game winning streak against the Milwaukee Bucks.

“It’s great for the NBA, right?” said Atkinson, the only coach to win his first 15 games with a new team. “Everyone’s going to watch and I know our guys are worried. I know they remember last year. We’re doing good. They’re doing good. It’s great for the league. Great for our franchise. We’re excited .” .”

Mitchell did not play in the final two games of last year’s Eastern Conference semifinals, as the Cavs were eliminated in five games by the Celtics, who went on to win another championship.

Allen missed that entire Boston series with a broken rib and said he and his teammates are looking forward to seeing how they measure up against the Celtics next.

“It’s a rematch,” Allen said. “I know they didn’t have any players. And we didn’t have me, so I want to try to beat them and test where we are with them.”

Atkinson feels the same way. If the Cavs have title aspirations, this is a chance for them to see if they are real.

“It will be a great test for us,” he said. “They obviously play a different style, five away with five shooters, so it’s going to be a really good test for us. We’re at that point now: 15-0 and let’s test ourselves against the best and see where we are.” and see where we are going to make adjustments or not.

“It actually comes at the perfect time.”

ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.