A few hours after the Dallas Mavericks traded their star player Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers, the team took to the court against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Since many other Mavericks players were injured, the Cavaliers gained a full advantage—and made history.
In just the first quarter, the Cavaliers scored a colossal 50 points against Dallas. Led by Darius Garland, who scored 13 points in the first quarter, the Cavaliers also helped Donavan Mitchell (nine points), Evan Mobley (eight points), and Sam Merrill (eight points) to stand out after coming off the bench.
In the first quarter, the Cavs made nine out of eleven three-pointers—an impressive 81.8% from beyond the arc.
Dallas—with injured Kyrie Irving and without new players Anthony Davis and Max Christie—finished the first quarter with a score of 50-19 in favor of the Cavs.
Scoring 50 points in the first quarter, the Cavs set a franchise record for the most points scored in a single quarter.
But that’s not all
In the second quarter, they continued to pick up steam. By halftime, the Cavs had scored 91 points in the first half. You read that correctly. In 24 minutes of the game, the Cavs were only nine points short of 100.
In the first half, Garland scored 17 points, Mobley 15, Mitchell 12, and Merrill 12 after coming off the bench—an ideal performance.
Another franchise record was set. The Cavs team scored 91 points, making it the highest total points scored in a single half in the team’s history.
By the end of the game, the Cavs once again etched their names into the record books.
When Merrill hit his ninth three-pointer, the team broke the record for most three-pointers made in a game, hitting 26 three-pointers in Sunday’s match.
The game became what the team and fans like to call Cavalanche, as the Cavs defeated the Mavericks by a 43-point margin.
