NBA Eastern Conference leaders the Cleveland Cavaliers suffered their first home loss of the season with a surprise 135-124 defeat to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.

Cleveland's second loss of the season came afer a strong second half display from Atlanta with De'Andre Hunter scoring 26 points off the bench, Jalen Johnson adding 22 points and Trae Young contributing 20 with a career-high 22 assists.

Young put the game beyond the Cavs with a 39-foot three pointer to make it 129-122 with just under two minutes remaining, moments after he had turned the ball over.

Johnson said Young's assists had been crucial to the victory, and that he deserved more credit for his role on the team.

"He was really getting off the ball and finding everyone," Johnson said. "A lot of people don't necessarily talk about him, even though he's leading the league in assists – but they don't talk about him as the playmaker."

The win moves the Hawks to 8-11 on the season, and Young said the team had shown what they were capable of.

"They are a really good team who have been playing well all year, and I feel we have been a little inconsistent but the times that we have played well, we've played really well," he said.

Donovan Mitchell scored 30 for Cleveland and Evan Mobley put up 22 points and 13 rebounds, but the Cavs missed out on a chance to become the first team to start with an 18-1 record.

Meanwhile, the Houston Rockets needed overtime to beat the 3-14 Philadelphia 76ers, with Alperen Şengün scoring 22 points and claiming 14 rebounds and seven assists.

Half of Sengun's points came in overtime, where the Rockets made sure of moving to 14-6.

Elsewhere, James Harden scored 43 points for the Los Angeles Clippers as they beat the struggling Washington Wizards 121-96.

Harden scored 23 of his points in the first quarter, and left the game late in the third quarter with the Wizards already condemned to their 13th straight defeat. (AFP)