Kenny Atkinson says 10 is "kind of the magic number" after the Cleveland Cavaliers extended their perfect start to the NBA season against the Golden State Warriors.

The Cavs triumphed 136-117 on Friday, becoming the first team in NBA history to win their first 10 games and score at least 110 points in each of them.

It is already their best-ever start to a season in franchise history, and they are the first team to register a 10-0 record since the Warriors themselves in 2015-16.

Darius Garland went 6-of-11 from 3-point range while totalling 27 points, while Evan Mobley added 23. All-Star Donovan Mitchell managed just 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting.

The new coach has so far impressed since replacing J.B. Bickerstaff, using his squad depth wisely during their winning streak, and he was delighted to continue it against tough opposition.

"10-0 is something. It's kind of a magic number, right?" Atkinson said.

"I was worried about tonight because the Warriors are champions. That surprised me, how ready we were, how hungry we were. 10-0 is really something for our team."

Atkison previously spent three years as an assistant coach to Steve Kerr at the Warriors before moving to Cleveland.

The Cavs ended Golden State's five-game winning streak on Friday, but Kerr was full of praise for the way his former colleague has transformed the Cavs so far.

"This was a great job to get, just like mine was 10 years ago," Kerr said.

"Now you're just tweaking things and seeing where you can get better on the margins rather than trying to grow something organically. It's a perfect spot and Kenny has taken advantage.

"[They're] clearly one of the best teams in the league."

The Cleveland Cavaliers set a franchise record by building a 41-point half-time lead en route to their latest victory, a 136-117 drubbing of the Golden State Warriors on Friday.

Cleveland moved to 10-0 to extend the best-ever start in team history despite All-Star Donovan Mitchell managing just 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Plenty of other Cavaliers stepped up with the playmaking guard struggling, however, as Darius Garland went 6 of 11 from 3-point range while totalling 27 points and Evan Mobley put up 23 points in 26 minutes.

The Cavaliers, the first team in NBA history to open a season with 10 straight wins while scoring at least 110 points in each, also received 13 points and 12 rebounds from Jarrett Allen and 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting off the bench from Ty Jerome.

Cleveland also held Stephen Curry to just 12 points while putting an end to the Warriors' five-game winning streak. 

Jonathan Kuminga led Golden State with 21 points, while fellow reserve Brandin Podziemski finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.

The Cavaliers began the game on a 20-2 run and never looked back, as they sped out to a 39-22 lead after one quarter before completely dominating the second.

Cleveland outscored the Warriors by a 44-20 margin in the next period to own an insurmountable 83-42 advantage at the intermission, which tied a franchise record for points in a half. 

The Cavs shot 63.6 per cent (14 of 22) from 3-point range over the first two quarters, with Jerome and Isaac Okoro each tallying 13 first-half points and Garland and Mobley recording 11 apiece.

Nurkic's late surge lifts hot Suns over Mavericks

The Phoenix Suns are now on a seven-game winning streak after rallying in the fourth quarter for a 114-113 road victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

Jusuf Nurkic scored the Suns' final five points and snapped a 113-113 tie by making one of two free throws with 0.8 seconds left. The veteran centre was fouled after grabbing the rebound of team-mate Royce O'Neale's missed shot to set up the go-ahead point.

Nurkic finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Kevin Durant scored 26 points to help Phoenix improve to 8-1, which matches the 2009-10 team for the best start in franchise history. 

Luka Dončić had 30 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Dallas, but misfired on a long 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

Kyrie Irving compiled 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the reigning Western Conference champion Mavericks, who have alternated losses and wins over a five-game stretch since starting 3-1. 

Dallas fought back from a 63-50 half-time deficit to take a 97-91 lead on Naji Marshall's layup with 7:47 remaining, but Bradley Beal had seven points during a 9-3 run that brought the Suns even at 100-100 with five minutes to go.

Nurkic scored on back-to-back possessions to give Phoenix a 113-111 edge with 31.4 seconds left. The Mavericks answered on their next trip down the court, however, as Doncic fed Daniel Gafford for a game-tying alley-oop dunk with 23.5 seconds left to play.

Thunder keep rolling with dominant win over Rockets

The Oklahoma City Thunder kept pace with the Suns atop the Western Conference by cruising to a 126-107 win over the Houston Rockets.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren each scored 29 points to help Oklahoma City (8-1) bounce back from its lone loss of the season, a 124-122 setback at Denver on Wednesday. 

The Thunder also kept Houston's top two scorers in check, as Jalen Green was held to 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting and Alperen Sengun missed nine of 12 shots while finishing with 11 points. 

Dillon Brooks led the Rockets, who had a two-game winning streak stopped, with 17 points.

After the teams played to a 31-31 tie through one quarter, the Thunder took control in the second by outscoring Houston by a 44-20 margin for the period.

Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren each had 10 points during the second quarter, and Oklahoma City shot 70 per cent from the field for the frame to go into half-time with a comfortable 75-51 lead.

The Thunder extended the margin to as many as 29 points in the third quarter, and Houston never got its deficit under 19 points the entire second half.

Evan Mobley scored 25 points, Donovan Mitchell added 24 and the Cleveland Cavaliers improved to 5-0 with a 134-110 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night in a game that included a special homecoming for LeBron James and his son, Bronny.

The win marks the first time the Cavs have started 5-0 since the 2016-17 season, led by LeBron, and the third time in franchise history.

In the final minutes, Bronny played for the second time as a pro and was inserted with 5:16 left. The younger James, who grew up in the arena, made a 14-foot jumper with 2:03 to play for his first NBA points.

Jarrett Allen added 20 points and 17 rebounds for Cleveland.

LeBron scored 26 and Anthony Davis had 22 and 13 rebounds for the Lakers, who were unable to cut into Cleveland's lead after falling behind by 23 in the first half.

Mitchell made back-to-back 3-pointers as the Cavaliers made four treys in a span of 1:45 in the first quarter to open a 19-point lead after one.

Towns’ big night powers Knicks           

Karl-Anthony Towns had 44 points and 12 rebounds, Jalen Brunson scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half and the New York Knicks rallied to beat the Miami Heat 116-107.

Towns had the fourth-most points for the Knicks against the Heat. Jamal Crawford scored 52 in 2007, Carmelo Anthony had 50 at Miami in 2013 and RJ Barrett 46 in 2022.

Towns shot 17 of 24 from the field, 4 of 5 from long range and 24 of his 44 points in the first half to keep New York close.

Mikal Bridges added 17 points for New York, which trailed by 13 in the third quarter before flipping the game. OG Anunoby had 11 points and Josh Hart finished with 10 points, 14 rebounds and six assists.

Tyler Herro had 34 points for Miami, hitting eight 3-pointers. Terry Rozier scored 16 points, Jimmy Butler had 15, Bam Adebayo 11 and Nikola Jovic 10.

The Knicks ended the third quarter on a 30-10 run, turning a 70-57 deficit into an 87-80 lead.

Thunder down Spurs to remain perfect

Lu Dort scored 20 points, Chet Holmgren added 19 and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the San Antonio Spurs 105-93to remain the only unbeaten team in the Western Conference.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 18 points, and Jalen Williams had 12 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the Thunder. Oklahoma City has won all four of its games by at least 12 points.

Harrison Barnes scored 18 points, Jeremy Sochan had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Chris Paul added 14 points and nine assists for the Spurs.

San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama was held to six points on 1-for-5 shooting in his matchup with Holmgren, a fellow second-year big man. Wembanyama also had eight rebounds and three blocks.

Oklahoma City showed it can win even when Gilgeous-Alexander's shot is off. Gilgeous-Alexander, one of the league's top scorers with 28.7 points per game through his first three contests, made just 7 of 20 shots, including 2 of 10 from 3.

The Spurs cut Oklahoma City's lead to 82-75 in the fourth quarter before the Thunder went on a 9-2 run with Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench to regain control of the game. Rookie Ajay Mitchell scored five points during that stretch. The Thunder led 93-81 when Gilgeous-Alexander returned, and Oklahoma City was up 103-87 when he went to the bench for good with 2:46 remaining.

Jarrett Allen has become the latest Cleveland Cavalier to sign a maximum contract extension since the conclusion of the 2023-24 NBA season.

Allen signed a three-year, $91million extension with the Cavaliers on Wednesday, according to multiple sources.

The deal will guarantee him $131million over the next five years.

Allen joins Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley as Cleveland players to ink extensions this off-season, as the franchise has established itself as a legitimate contender in the Eastern Conference.

The 26-year-old Allen averaged a career-best 16.5 points along with 10.5 rebounds in 77 games last season. His shooting percentage of 63.4 ranked fourth in the NBA.

The 22nd overall pick of the 2017 draft by the Nets, Allen spent his first three-plus NBA seasons in Brooklyn before Cleveland acquired him in January 2021.

He was named an All-Star in his first full season with the Cavs in 2021-22, when he averaged 16.1 points and a career-high 10.8 rebounds.

In 252 games in a Cavs uniform, Allen has averaged 15.1 points, 10.3 boards and 2 assists while shooting 64.2 per cent.

The Cavs reached last season's East semi-finals before being ousted by the eventual champion Boston Celtics with Allen sitting out the entire play-off series due to a rib injury and Mitchell missing the final two games because of a left calf strain.

In the four post-season games he played before his injury, Allen averaged 17 points on 67.6 per cent shooting and 13.8 rebounds.

Donovan Mitchell scored 16 of his 29 points in the third quarter and the Cleveland Cavaliers answered with a blowout of their own in a 118-94 win over the Boston Celtics to even their second-round playoff series at one game apiece on Thursday.

Evan Mobley had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Caris LeVert added 21 points off the bench for the Cavaliers, who won their first road playoff game in five tries this postseason.

Cleveland lost the series opener on Tuesday by 25 points but seized the lead in the third quarter with Mitchell sinking 4 of 5 from 3-point range. He hit three straight baskets early in the fourth, including a 28-foot, banked 3 to make it 95-80.

Boston never got the deficit under double digits after that.

Jayson Tatum scored 25 points and Jayen Brown added 19 but combined to shoot 14 for 34, including 2 for 11 from 3-point range for the Celtics, who were 8 for 35 from beyond the arc.

Derrick White was limited to 10 points and misfired on 7 of 8 from deep after he had 25 points in Game 1.

Boston center Kristaps Porzingis missed his third straight game with a strained calf muscle.

Mobley started at center in place of Jarrett Allen, who has missed the last five games with bruised ribs.

Mavericks beat Thunder to even series

Luka Dončić had 29 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in a bounce-back performance as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder, 119-110, to even their second-round series at a game apiece.

P.J. Washington had 29 points with seven 3-pointers and grabbed 11 rebounds and Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 17 points off the bench for Dallas, which hosts Game 3 on Saturday.

After he was limited to 19 points on 6-of-19 shooting in Game 1, Doncic was 11 of 21 from the field and 5 of 8 from 3-point range in this one.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 33 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists and Jalen Williams added 20 points for the Thunder, who lost for the first time in six playoff games and allowed over 100 points for the first time.

Gilgeous-Alexander's layup with 7:13 remaining drew the Thunder within 106-101, but Doncic hit a pair of jumpers and Washington dunked to make it 112-101 with 4:14 to play.  

Donte DiVincenzo's go-ahead 3-pointer with 13.1 seconds left highlighted a furious late rally that propelled the New York Knicks to a crucial 104-101 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in Monday's Game 2 of an Eastern Conference quarter-finals series. 

Down 101-96 in the final minute, the second-seeded Knicks scored the game's final eight points to grab a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, which shifts to Philadelphia for Thursday's Game 3.

DiVincenzo finished with 19 points and Jalen Brunson had 24 along with eight rebounds and six assists for New York, which also got a big effort from center Isaiah Hartenstein to overcome a 10-point deficit late in the first half.

Hartenstein scored all 14 of his points in the second half on 7-of-7 shooting while helping the Knicks contain 76ers' star Joel Embiid. The reigning NBA MVP managed 34 points and 10 rebounds, but made good on just 12 of 29 field goal attempts and missed a potential tying 3-point try at the buzzer.

Tyrese Maxey ended just shy of a triple-double for seventh-seeded Philadelphia, as he compiled 35 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.

The Sixers trailed 90-82 early in the fourth quarter before outscoring New York 19-6 over a seven-minute stretch to pull ahead late. Maxey's jumper with 2:22 to go gave Philadelphia a 97-96 edge, and the All-Star buried a 3-pointer shortly afterward to extend the lead to four entering the final minute.

Brunson gave New York some life with a 3-pointer with 27.4 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 101-99, and after Maxey turned it over on the ensuing possession, DiVincenzo knocked down a 26-footer on a second-chance attempt to send the Knicks in front.

Maxey then couldn't get a contested layup to fall with 6.6 seconds left, and New York's OG Anunoby was fouled after grabbing the rebound before making both free throws ahead of Embiid's game-ending miss. 

Nuggets rally from 20 points down to stun Lakers in Game 2

The Denver Nuggets also took a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference series with the Los Angeles Lakers after overcoming a 20-point second-half deficit to rally for a stunning 101-99 win.

Jamal Murray capped Denver's improbable comeback by hitting a game-winning 15-foot jumper with 0.4 seconds left on the clock.

Murray scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half and Nikola Jokić had 15 points after half-time to also spark the defending NBA champions. Jokic ended the night with a 27-point, 20-rebound, 10-assist triple-double.

Anthony Davis finished with 32 points and 11 rebounds for the seventh-seeded Lakers, who appeared on the verge of sending the series back to Los Angeles all tied up after opening up a 68–48 lead two minutes into the third quarter.

Second-seeded Denver trailed 74-55 near the midway point of the third before getting back in it with a 10-0 run. The Nuggets later went on a 10-1 spurt to pull within 83-81 on Murray's layup with 6:45 remaining.

Murray was later fouled with 57.6 seconds left and made both free throws to forge a 97-97 tie. LeBron James answered with a layup on the ensuing possession to put Los Angeles back ahead, but Murray sunk a step-back jumper with 30 seconds remaining to even the score once again.

James then misfired on a 3-point try and the Nuggets secured the rebound before getting the ball to Murray, who knocked down the game-winner right before the buzzer sounded with Davis contesting the shot.

James had 26 points and 12 rebounds, while D'Angelo Russell netted 23 points for the Lakers while going 7 of 11 from 3-point range.

Game 3 will take place Thursday night.

Cavaliers shut down Magic again to take 2-0 series lead

Donovan Mitchell scored 23 points and Jarrett Allen led another strong defensive effort for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who took a 2-0 lead in their first-round series against the Orlando Magic by recording a 96-86 win.

After holding the Magic under 33 per cent shooting in Saturday's series opener, fourth-seeded Cleveland forced 17 turnovers and limited No. 5 seed Orlando to a 36.2 per cent rate from the field to move within two wins of advancing.

Allen particularly made his presence felt by corralling 20 rebounds along with three blocks and two steals. The standout center also contributed 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

Evan Mobley added 17 points and Darius Garland had 15 in a game the Cavaliers never trailed while taking control early by building a 30-18 lead after one quarter.

Cleveland's margin grew as high as 17 points in the second quarter as the Magic continued to struggle to score, and Mitchell registered 19 of his points in the first half to help send the Cavs into the break owning a 58-44 advantage.

Orlando never seriously threatened in the second half and will now attempt to reverse momentum when it returns home to host Game 3 on Thursday. 

Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 21 points and Franz Wagner had 18 for Orlando, though all but one of those points came during the first half.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will be without two star players for the next several weeks after announcing significant injuries to point guard Darius Garland and forward Evan Mobley on Friday.

Garland suffered a fractured jaw after colliding with Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis on Thursday. Garland finished the game, but a scan on Friday confirmed the injury. The 2021-22 All-Star selection will undergo a procedure to repair his jaw and will be re-evaluated in four weeks.

Mobley has missed Cleveland’s last four games, listed on the injury report with left knee soreness. The Cavs announced Friday that the third-year big man will undergo arthroscopic surgery on the knee and will be re-evaluated in six to eight weeks.

Garland and Mobley have combined to score nearly 37 points per game this season, and their absence will place an even greater offensive burden on the shoulders of Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus and Caris LeVert.

The loss of two core players is a massive blow for a team off to a middling start this season.

After a disappointing first-round play-off exit to end last season, the Cavs opened this campaign 4-6. The team appeared to find its footing over the next few weeks, rising above .500, but Cleveland has dropped its last three games and sits at 13-12.

Garland was the fifth overall pick in the 2019 draft and is averaging 20.7 points – second on the team behind Mitchell – and 5.9 assists this season.

Mobley was the third overall pick in 2021 and immediately made a splash as an All-Rookie selection. He is scoring 16.0 points per game this season and is averaging career highs with 10.5 rebounds, 1.67 blocks and 57.3-percent shooting from the field.

Mobley is the Cavs’ best defender, and he was an All-Defensive Team selection last season.