By james art CLEVELAND (AP) — Darius Garland scored 25 points, Donovan Mitchell added 22 and the Cleveland Cavaliers improved to 6-0 with a 120-109 victory Friday night over the Orlando Magic, who played their first game without injured All-Star Paolo Banchero .
The Cavs are the only undefeated team in the Eastern Conference. The last time Cleveland started 6-0 was in 2016 with LeBron James. The club’s best start was 8-0 in 1976.
The early meeting between Orlando and Cleveland was a rematch of last season’s tense first-round playoff series, which the Cavs won in seven games.
Banchero is expected to miss at least a month – and possibly more – with a torn right hair. The No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft was in early form, averaging 29 points with 8.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists before going down with the injury Wednesday.
Orlando’s Jaylen Suggs scored a career-high 28 points and had eight rebounds and seven assists. Franz Wagner scored 17 points.
Cleveland rookie Luke Travers made his NBA debut. The Australian scored four points in garbage time.
Magic: Life without Banchero won’t be easy, but it could lead to Suggs developing his offensive game even more and others stepping up.
Cavaliers: They took to first-year coach Kenny Atkinson’s offensive system, playing at a faster pace and shooting more 3-pointers.
The Magic hung around and were still within 10 late in the third quarter when Cavs reserves Caris LeVert, Sam Merrill and Georges Niang hit 3-pointers in the final 2:17 to give Cleveland a 17-point lead heading into the fourth position.
Cleveland improved to 30-7 in Mitchell’s last 37 regular-season games since January.
The Magic continue their road trip in Dallas on Sunday. The Cavs play Saturday in Milwaukee before hosting the Bucks on Monday.
___
AP NBA: