HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS | #BLACKHISTORYMONTH

The Harlem Globetrotters started in 1926 on Chicago’s South Side, not Harlem, founded by African American players from Wendell Phillips High School. Originally the Savoy Big Five, they became the “Globe Trotters” under Tommy Brookins, and in 1929, Abe Saperstein took over, renaming them the “New York Harlem Globe Trotters” to tie them to Black culture and suggest global travel. Early on, they were a serious team, playing over 1,000 games by 1936 and winning the World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1940. In 1948 and 1949, they beat the Minneapolis Lakers, proving Black talent and influencing NBA integration.

By the 1950s, as the NBA opened up, they shifted to entertainment, with stars like Goose Tatum and Meadowlark Lemon adding comedy and tricks. They toured worldwide, playing for huge crowds—like 75,000 in Berlin in 1951—and became “Ambassadors of Goodwill.” Wilt Chamberlain joined briefly in 1959. They’ve since played over 26,000 games in 124 countries, entertaining millions. Ownership changed after Saperstein’s death in 1966, with Mannie Jackson reviving them in 1993. The first woman, Lynette Woodard, joined in 1985. Inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002, they still perform widely today.

CAVALIERS TOP HORNETS, TIE 2ND-BEST START TO NBA SEASON (15-0)

CLEVELAND -- Darius Garland scored 25 points, Ty Jerome matched his career high with 24 in place of Donovan Mitchell, and the Cleveland Cavaliers stayed unbeaten with a 128-114 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night.

The Cavs are the fourth team to start 15-0 and are tied for the second-best start to a season in NBA history, trailing only the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (24-0). The Warriors set the league record by winning their first 24 games on the way to a 73-9 season.

The 2015-16 Warriors, 1993-94 Houston Rockets (started 15-0) and 1948-49 Washington Capitols (15-0) all made the NBA Finals.

Evan Mobley had 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Jarrett Allen had 21 points and 15 rebounds for Cleveland, marking the second time the Cavaliers have had four 20-point scorers in consecutive games in franchise history, and the first time since 1972.

The Cavs also extended the longest winning streak in team history and have given Cleveland sports fans something to be excited about in the midst of a football season that crashed long ago for the Browns.

"It's incredible," Allen said of how the city is embracing the Cavs. "Everyone is showing tons of energy, all over the city. It's incredible how Cleveland has adopted us. They come to every game, yelling for everything. The city of Cleveland has our backs."

Although they wanted to keep their winning streak alive, the Cavs felt getting Mitchell rest was more important. It's a long season with bigger games ahead, and first-year coach Kenny Atkinson, who has yet to lose with Cleveland, said sticking to the plan with Mitchell was a priority.

The Cavaliers barely missed a beat without Mitchell, who was coming off a season-high 37-point performance. One of the many pluses during the winning streak is that it's allowing Atkinson to further develop his bench.

As has been the case in almost every game, the Cavs got positive minutes and moments from everyone Atkinson put on the floor. They also overcame some adversity as both Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade were forced out in the second half with ankle injuries. Wade, who has made seven starts, left Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in a walking boot.

The Cavaliers will put their perfect start on the line Tuesday against the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics at TD Garden.

"Boston Garden," Atkinson said. "What's better than that?"

As NBA games in November go, not much.

This is the fourth time in NBA history a team on a win streak of 15-plus games faces off against the defending NBA champion, and the first time since the Chicago Bulls faced the Rockets in 1996. One of these instances came in 1972, when the Los Angeles Lakers saw their NBA-record 33-game win streak come to an end against the Milwaukee Bucks.

"It's great for the NBA, right?" said Atkinson, the only coach to win his 15 first games with a new team. "Everybody is going to be watching, and I know our guys are anxious. I know they remember last year. We're going well. They're going well. It's great for the league. Great for our franchise. We're excited."

Mitchell didn't play in the final two games of last year's Eastern Conference semifinals, when the Cavs were eliminated in five games by the Celtics, who went on to win another championship.

Allen missed that entire Boston series with a broken rib and said he and his teammates are looking forward to seeing how they measure up with the Celtics now.

have some players. And we didn't have me, so I want to try and beat them and test where we are with them."

Atkinson feels the same way. If the Cavs have title aspirations, this a chance for them to see if they're real.

"It's going to be a great test for us," he said. "They obviously play a different style, five-out with five shooters, so it's going to be a real good test for us. We're at that point right now -- 15-0 and let's test ourselves against the best and see where we stand and see where we're going to make adjustments or not make adjustments.

"It actually comes at the perfect time."

ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

- ESPN News Services

OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALS 🏅 | PARIS 1924 - PARIS 2024

TADEJ POGACAR RETAINS YELLOW JERSEY WITH TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 20 WIN

COL DE LA COUILLOLE, France -- Tadej Pogacar equaled one Tour de France mark Saturday and will likely match another Sunday.

Yellow jersey-holder Pogacar edged defending champion Jonas Vingegaard at the top of Col De La Couillole to win the 20th and penultimate stage and add even more seconds to his considerable lead.

It was a fifth stage victory this month for the two-time champion, who stretched out his arms as he crossed the line before holding up his fingers to signal his number of wins.

The only other man to have won five mountain stages in one Tour was Gino Bartali in 1948.

"If you told me this before the Tour, I would not have believed you," Pogacar said. "It's out of this world actually. I'm so happy.

"[Five stages] is more than enough. One would be enough. Just the yellow jersey would be enough. But it is how it is. You don't brake in cycling."

Pogacar attacked from the leading duo with 150 meters remaining and beat Vingegaard by seven seconds.

It will likely be the same positions on the final podium Sunday after Pogacar extended his lead to 5 minutes, 14 seconds, over two-time defending champ Vingegaard, his closest rival.

Third-place Remco Evenepoel lost even more time. He crossed the line in fourth, behind Richard Carapaz, and lost 53 seconds to Pogacar to fall 8:04 behind the Slovenian star.

The Tour ends Sunday on the French Riviera with a 21-mile time trial from Monaco to Nice, and not in Paris as it usually does because of the Olympic Games.

Barring incident, Pogacar is almost certain to reclaim the Tour crown from Vingegaard and in doing so secure a rare Giro d'Italia and Tour de France double. The last rider to win both in the same year was the late Marco Pantani in 1998.

"I enjoyed [the stage] very much," Pogacar said. "It didn't go as we planned, but I couldn't be happier with that, another stage win. Just one more day ... and tomorrow I think I'm going to enjoy it as well."

After his explosive attack the previous day, Pogacar said he would not try to win Saturday's stage, a short but brutal 83-mile route from Nice that featured three hard Category 1 ascents.

Indeed, the UAE Emirates rider just stayed with the rest of the reduced group of title contenders on the daunting 10-mile ramp up the Col de la Couillole until Vingegaard made his move and Pogacar sat on the Dane's wheel.

They swept up the remnants of the breakaway and caught up to the front two of Carapaz and Enric Mas with about 1.5 miles remaining.

First Mas and then Carapaz were dropped, setting up an intriguing battle in the final kilometer between the two cycling stars, but it was only a matter of time before Pogacar launched his sprint.

Moments after crossing the line, Pogacar pulled up and waited for Vingegaard to embrace him.

Vingegaard was hospitalized for nearly two weeks in April following a high-speed crash in the Tour of the Basque Country. He resumed competitive racing only on this Tour.

"In some kind of way I was hoping he would give it to me," Vingegaard said. "But I knew already that I had been riding so hard, if he would sprint I would have no chance as I was already on my limit.

"But you can always hope. But it's cycling, that's how it is. I don't blame him at all, I would do probably the same. I'm just happy with how I performed today and how I could come back from yesterday."

- Associated Press 

GRAN PREMIO SAN REMO | AUTODDTOMO DI OSPENDALETTI