Donovan Mitchell hits Cavs with reality check amid 13-0 start to season

The Cleveland Cavaliers have given fans of the team plenty to write home about so far in the 2024-25 regular season.

Not only do the Cavaliers hold the best record in the NBA right now at 13-0, but they’re also off to one of the best undefeated starts to a campaign in the history of the league.

However, Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell has stressed that while the squad is off to a scorching start, the season is young, and there is still a lot of work to be done.

“That’s what you want,” Mitchell said of the Cavs finding and addressing areas that need improvement. “At the end of the day, if you want to be the best, you got to beat the best. But in order to be the best, which we’re trying to continue to be, you got to go out there every night and it’s a mental thing — how great do you want to be? Do you want to be satisfied? We’re hunted, but it’s also November. I keep telling everybody, let’s relax. It’s November. We’re not winning a championship right now. But these are good tests.”

The Cavaliers have been getting teams’ best shots recently, as Cleveland has been in some tight games of late with squads that don’t exactly have great records.

Against the Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 9, the Cavaliers trailed by 12 points after three quarters and needed a dominant final frame to come out with a win. Cleveland outscored the Nets by 17 points across the last 12 minutes of action to win by just five.

On Nov. 11, the Cavs were tested by the Chicago Bulls in a game where neither team was able to get a ton of separation. In the end, Cleveland came away with a six-point win.

More recently, the team saw itself down by six points at halftime against the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night. But the Cavaliers won that contest by eight points behind the fact that Mitchell and Darius Garland combined for 48 points.

The Cavaliers’ next opportunity to build upon their undefeated start to the season is coming up on Friday night, when the team will take on the Bulls in NBA Cup action.

As mentioned, Cleveland just narrowly came out on top in its first matchup against the Bulls of the season. Chicago is only 5-7, but that’s likely better than many expected after the team lost star veteran DeMar DeRozan in free agency. The Bulls are currently tied for the sixth-best record in a very forgiving Eastern Conference.