Cleveland Cavaliers @ New Orleans Pelicans
Wednesday, November 6, 2024 at 8:00 PM ET
Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA | Game ID: 22400175
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
NOP 34 25 29 34 122CLE 29 30 40 32 131
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Mitchell scores 29 and the Cavaliers beat the Pelicans 131-122 for their first 9-0 start
NEW ORLEANS -- — Donovan Mitchell scored 29 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 131-122 on Wednesday night to open 9-0 for the first time in their 55-year NBA history.
Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen each added 16 points, and Allen grabbed 14 rebounds as the Cavaliers surpassed an 8-0 start by the 1976-77 squad that finished 43-39 under coach Bill Fitch.
Zion Williamson returned from a two-game absence and had 29 points for the Pelicans. He temporarily took himself out after playing 10 minutes, but returned to start the second half and scored 23 after halftime.
Jose Alvarado hit all seven 3-pointers he took and finished with 27 points for New Orleans. Brandon Ingram added 20 points for the Pelicans, who have lost three straight and six of seven.
Takeaways Cavaliers: Cleveland had no trouble rallying back from an early 12-point deficit on the road and did so in part by shooting 54.2% overall, including 48.6% from 3-point range.
Pelicans: The injury-depleted Pelicans played with effort but simply lacked the firepower needed to hang with the hottest team in the NBA for a full 48 minutes.
Key moment After Alvarado's back-to-back 3s made it 112-106, Mitchell responded with a hesitation move in the lane and a floater to make it 114-106 and stem the Pelicans' momentum with 5:20 left. Cleveland kept New Orleans at arm's length from then on.
K ey stat Cleveland got 50 points from reserves, led by LeVert and Ty Jerome (11 points).
Up next The Cavaliers play at home Friday against the Golden State Warriors , who own the best start in NBA history at 24-0 in 2015-16.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
CLECL C. LeVert
CP C. Porter Jr.
DG D. Garland
DM D. Mitchell
EM E. Mobley
GN G. Niang
IO I. Okoro
JA J. Allen
SM S. Merrill
TJ T. Jerome
NOPBB B. Boston
BI B. Ingram
BJ Boston Jr.
DT D. Theis
JA J. Alvarado
JG J. Green
JH J. Hawkins
JR J. Robinson-Earl
YM Y. Missi
ZW Z. Williamson
CLE/NOP the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur