The Cleveland Cavaliers remained unbeaten with a 15th win, the second-best start to a season in NBA history, and Julius Randle was decisive for Minnesota at the buzzer on Sunday in the North American basketball league.

And 15 for Cleveland without Mitchell

Despite the absence of Donovan Mitchell, rested after playing his team’s first 14 games (averaging 24.6 points), the Cleveland Cavaliers continued their perfect start to the season with a 15th win over Charlotte (128-114).

The Cavaliers and their new coach Kenny Atkinson thus equalled the second-best start in league history, also achieved by the Houston Rockets in 1993 and the Washington Capitals in 1948. The record belongs to the Golden State Warriors (24 wins in 2015).

Points were shared between Darius Garland (25, with 12 assists), Ty Jerome (24), Evan Mobley (23) and Jarrett Allen (21, with 15 rebounds). The road continues to climb for the Cavs, who will be aiming for a 16th victory on the floor of champions Boston on Tuesday.

Hawks fall asleep in Portland

With the game in hand, the Atlanta Hawks suffered a 17-0 blowout in the 3rd quarter, leading to a narrow 114-110 victory for Portland in the wake of Shaedon Sharpe’s 32 points.

French N.1 draft pick Zaccharie Risacher was fairly discreet (11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists) in 21 minutes. The Detroit Pistons crushed the Washington Wizards (124-104) on their own floor, with Frenchmen Bilal Coulibaly (15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals) and Alexandre Sarr (4 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists).

Randle adopted, fine for LaMelo Ball

After arriving in Minnesota in early October, in exchange for local darling Karl-Anthony Towns, who had left for New York, Julius Randle did the best thing possible for his integration: a three-point shot at the siren for a win over Phoenix (120-117) that had the fans on the edge of their seats.

The All-Star inside player capped off a fine performance (35 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists) with his decisive step-back, keeping the Wolves in a good position in the West (8 wins – 6 losses). Deprived of Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal, the Suns relied on Devin Booker (44 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists), to no avail. French pivot Rudy Gobert scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Charlotte Hornets point guard LaMelo Ball was fined $100,000, the maximum amount against a player in the NBA, for “offensive and derogatory” comments made in a post-game interview on Saturday, the NBA said on Sunday.

Dallas takes down the Thunder

The Dallas Mavericks, NBA finalists in the spring, knocked off the Oklahoma City Thunder (121-119), whom they had beaten in the 2nd round of the play-offs, despite the absence of their star Luka Doncic on Sunday.

Ahead for most of the game, Dallas and P. J. Washington (27 points, 17 rebounds) were able to resist the comeback of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder (36 points), who lost first place in the West to the Golden State Warriors. The Houston Rockets, surprisingly 3rd in the same conference, put on a show in Chicago (142-107), for a 5th straight victory. In the Los Angeles Clippers’ home win over the Utah Jazz, James Harden became the second most successful three-point shooter in the NBA (2,975), ahead of Ray Allen (2,973) but far behind record-holder Stephen Curry (3,782).