The Cavaliers became the second NBA team in 20 years to start 10-0 with a dominant 136-117 victory over the Warriors

The Cleveland Cavaliers improved to 10-0 with an exclamation point, defeating the Golden State Warriors 136-117 on Friday at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

Golden State entered Friday’s game with a record of 7-1, but it was a mismatch from the start. The Cavs opened the game with a 20-2 run, put the Warriors in a deep hole from the start and ended the first quarter with a 39-22 lead.

At halftime, Cleveland held an 83-42 lead, setting a franchise record for points scored in the first half. The Cavs shot 65% from the floor and 64% (14 of 22) on 3-pointers in the half.

Darius Garland led the Cavs with 27 points (6 of 10 from 3-point range) and six assists. Evan Mobley followed with 23 points, four rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Ty Jerome added 20 points off the bench by hitting all three of his 3-point shots, and Isaac Okoro added 16 points by shooting 4-for-6 from 3-point range.

The Warriors played better in the second half, outscoring the Cavs 75-53. But the huge deficit was too great to overcome. Jonathan Kuminga scored 21 points and Brandin Podziemski added 14. Stephen Curry scored 12 points, his lowest total of the season.

Cleveland is the NBA’s last undefeated team this season after the Oklahoma City Thunder lost their first game of the season 124-122 to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday.

Interestingly, the last NBA team to start 10-0 in the last 20 seasons was the Warriors in the 2015-16 season. This team set a league record with a 24-0 start and finished 73-9, the best regular season record in NBA history. Still, Golden State lost to the Cavaliers and LeBron James in a seven-game NBA Finals.

The Cavs are now the fourth team to start 10-0 since 2000, joining the 2000-01 Philadelphia 76ers, the 2002-03 Dallas Mavericks and the 2015-16 Warriors. In total, 14 teams in NBA history have started the season 10-0 or better.

With an 8-0 start, Cleveland already set a franchise record for best start to a season. And Kenny Atkinson became the first head coach to start a 9-0 season with his new team. On Saturday, they will look to extend their record to 11-0 by hosting the Brooklyn Nets.