CLEVELAND (AP) — The win total is growing quickly, and so is the Cavaliers’ confidence.

With an 8-0 record so far, they are the only undefeated team in the Eastern Conference and at this point, they might as well win them all.

“That’s the plan,” center Jarrett Allen said with a wide smile.

The Cavs kept their unblemished record intact Monday night with a 116-114 victory against the Milwaukee Buckswho pushed Cleveland to the absolute limit despite playing without injured two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Darius Garland scored 39 points to pace the Cavs, outscoring Bucks star Damian Lillard in the final minutes as the point guards put on a dazzling display of shooting to the delight of another bustling crowd inside the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

“It was amazing,” said Garland, who made 7 of 11 3-pointers, including a go-ahead shot with 45 seconds remaining that put the Cavs up 113-111. “I grew up watching Dame. It was really cool to play 1-on-1 basketball.”

It was team ball that got Cleveland off to a good start.

With the victory, the Cavs tied the best start in franchise history, tying the 1976-77 Cavs, who went 8-0 before finishing 43-39 under coach Bill Fitch .

“We don’t do that,” All-Star Donovan Mitchell said, cutting off a reporter who mentioned the franchise record for fear of spoiling the team’s start. “I knew it. It’s great. Obviously you want to enjoy the little things on the road and it’s great to have that, but at the end of the day it’s eight games. »

Maybe so, but the Cavs won them all under first-year coach Kenny Atkinson, and they did it with a new catalyst emerging almost every night.

“We won in so many different ways,” said Mitchell, who signed a three-year contract extension with the Cavs this summer. “That was more impressive to me than the eight wins, just the way we did it. We had breakouts. We had some close games. We came back. Every night it’s someone new.

Atkinson has been willing to go deep into his bench almost every game. Although he was missing starter Dean Wade and first reserve Caris LeVert against the Bucks due to injuries, he used 10 players, including rookie Luke Travers, who only appeared in his second game.

“It just shows the confidence in the group, top to bottom,” said Mitchell, who beat the Bucks on Saturday with a jumper in the final second. “And the trust we have in each other.”

The Cavs know the first loss will come at some point, and they are unlikely to threaten the NBA record held by the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, who started 24-0. But they’re having fun and nothing is more fun than winning.

“We’re all cooped up,” Garland said.