Cavs go winless in preseason after 139-137 overtime loss to Chicago Bulls in finale

CLEVELAND, Ohio — There's a new mark of futility.

The Cavs went winless in the preseason for the fifth time in franchise history, losing Friday's finale to the feisty and balanced Chicago Bulls, 139-137, in overtime. Cleveland finished with an 0-4 mark in its regular season tune-up. The last time the Cavaliers went winless in the preseason was 1986.

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Going into the night with a plan to play the starters and top reserves deep into the game as part of the ramp-up process, new coach Kenny Atkinson stayed true to his word. Each Friday starter — Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Dean Wade (in place of injured swingman Max Strus), Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen — logged at least 25 minutes. The Cavs closed the fourth quarter with Garland, Mitchell, Mobley, Allen and Caris LeVert against the Bulls' non-regulars.

That still wasn't enough to avoid the dreaded 0-fer exhibition season.

Despite Garland draining back-to-back 3s around the two-minute mark of the fourth quarter to give the Cavs a four-point late-game lead, Chicago responded, pulling even with 3.8 seconds remaining on Talen Horton-Tucker's driving layup.

Atkinson called timeout and drew up a play, with the inbounds pass going to Garland. Moving away from the basket, Garland hoisted that came up woefully short. Allen's putback also missed, sending the game into overtime.

At that point, Atkinson had seen what he wanted from the top guys. They got enough minutes. The deep reserves entered for the duration.

Chicago outscored Cleveland, 9-7, in OT as camp invite Jules Bernard missed a potential game-winning triple at the buzzer.

All five Cavs starters scored in double figures, led by Allen's 25 points. Garland added 23. Mitchell tallied an individual preseason-high 22. Mobley had 14 points to go with 10 rebounds and eight assists. Wade chipped in with 14, as he temporarily stepped in for Strus who was unable to play the final three preseason games because of a right hip contusion suffered on Oct. 8.

Backup swingman Isaac Okoro was also held out Friday night. Okoro took a hard hit while trying to fight through a screen during Wednesday's matchup against Detroit, which led to some mild discomfort. As Cleveland has done all preseason, it held Okoro out as a precaution.

Next up: The regular season opener in Toronto on Wednesday night.

Good thing for Atkinson and the Cavs that an exhibition record doesn't carry over. Next week every team starts 0-0.