CLEVELAND -- Despite missing their entire starting lineup Saturday following travel difficulties returning to Cleveland, the Cavaliers cruised past the Dallas Mavericks for a 127-117 win on Saturday night.
Tyrese Proctor led the way for the short-handed Cavaliers, scoring 24 points with 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career triple-double.
Cleveland ruled out shooting guard Donovan Mitchell (left knee bruise), point guard James Harden (left calf), small forward Peyton Watson (right hamstring) and center Jarrett Allen (right knee) before the game. All four played Friday in Cleveland's 133-122 loss at the Miami Heat in an NBA Cup contest.
Cavaliers power forward Evan Mobley (left big toe sprain) missed his second consecutive game after being hurt Wednesday at New York.
"You know how it goes in the NBA," Atkinson said. "We have to deal with different circumstances, obviously, in this case, but we'll go out and compete and make the fans proud of us."
While fans at Rocket Arena booed loudly when the inactive players were announced, their substitutes proved inspiring. Mario Hezonja and Meleek Thomas scored 22 and 20 points, respectively, as Cleveland had a well-balanced attack across its starting five. Jaylon Tyson added 18 while Thomas Bryant scored 19.
Riley Minix, Norchad Omier and Craig Porter Jr. were the only other players to see minutes for Cleveland.
The nationwide ground stop on Friday forced the Cavaliers to remain in South Florida following their game, then fly home to Cleveland on Saturday morning.
With tens of thousands of travelers still in airports attempting to reschedule their flights, Atkinson refused to complain about his team's travel issues.
"It could have been a lot worse," he said. "We got lucky to get back into a hotel after the game because it was really busy in Miami. And we're lucky we got out and got in here early today."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.