Cavs conclude banner regular season with second-best mark in franchise history

April 13, 2025

CLEVELAND — It took two overtimes between third-stringers, but the 2024-25 regular season is in the books — and the 2024-25 Cavaliers will go down in franchise lore.

That’s because after Sunday’s 126-118 double OT home loss over the Indiana Pacers, the Cavs finished with a record of 64-18. The best record in franchise history came in 2008-09, when the LeBron James-led squad went 66-16.

So this is the second-best mark for Cleveland, and just the third time the organization has reached at least 60 wins.

By the way, the Cavs have never before reached 60 without James on the team. And to think they entered the season as one of just three teams that made no changes to the standard roster. All they did was hire a coach in Kenny Atkinson and come together in virtually every way possible.

The Cavaliers, of course, also hold the No. 1 seed entering the Eastern Conference playoffs. They improved their win total by 16 games from last year (48-34).

“I think you celebrate these moments,” Atkinson said after the clincher. “It’s hard to be the first seed. We all know that. We are hungry for more.”

So yes. A dream of a regular season. And now the real thing begins. Game 1 of the NBA playoffs tips off next weekend at Rocket Arena against a TBD opponent.

“I think we got out of the gate so quick and got ahead of it early. Then we had some ups and downs last month, but I’m proud of the guys,” Atkinson said.

Both the Cleveland and Indiana (49-33) rested the majority of their key players Sunday, given that both were already locked into their playoff spots.

Four Cavs scored at least 20 points, led by Jaylon Tyson‘s 31. Emoni Bates added 25, Nae’Qwan Tomlin had 24, and Craig Porter Jr. scored 20. Tristan Thompson yanked down a game-high 20 rebounds.

Akron product Enrique Freeman scored eight and grabbed eight rebounds for the Pacers. Indiana, once down by 27, outscored Cleveland 38-20 in the fourth to send the game into the first overtime.