The Cleveland Cavaliers have been one of the hottest basketball teams early into the NBA season. Much of that can be attributed to new Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson. Under Atkinson, the Cavs have played a more balanced game, with their offense starting to match the intensity of their renowned defense. It's led to Cleveland owning the NBA's best offense, scoring 123.4 points per 100 possessions. Meanwhile, a top-five defense gives the Cavs the second-best net rating in the NBA, meaning they're outscoring opponents by 17.7 points per 100 possessions.
While that's all well and good, Atkinson has admitted that Cleveland's offense is still a work in progress. The early returns and results are far better than many had hoped. However, Atkinson knows that the Cavs cannot afford to become complacent with their recent success—especially as their schedule gets more complicated. Cleveland's 5-0 start means “absolutely nothing” to Atkinson since, statistically speaking, the sample size is so tiny.
“I've been part of teams that start out great and start out poor,” said Atkinson. “We'll check in 10-20 games to get a better grip on where we are.”
Is Kenny Atkinson's analysis of the Cavs' offense accurate?
Atkinson's comments weren't a slight against his team's performance. However, there is truth to what he's saying. Before Atkinson, J.B. Bickerstaff ran the show in Cleveland for nearly five seasons. Atkinson realizes that the Cavs cannot rush to the finish line and must learn, grow, and enjoy the journey to their final destination. But for Cleveland to get there, Atkinson knows he cannot reinvent the wheel. Instead, the Cavs' new head coach knows he has to build up their offense by leaning on the team's greatest strength: their defense.
“You can easily lose sight of your identity, your strength,” said Atkinson. “It really shows that we know what the backbone of this team is. What their strength is. They've bought into that, and they keep buying into it. That's really important.”
While Cleveland has allowed the thirteenth most points in the NBA this year, that doesn't mean the Cavs aren't bought in. Since Cleveland has scored the third most points in the league, creating a scoring margin of +91, it's clear that the Cavs are locking in on opponents and doing more than enough to turn most matchups into a blowout.
“There are layers to getting players to buy in, and we're trying to hit all the layers,” said Atkinson. “… So, it's definitely not one piece. There are a lot of pieces to it. So, we've been hammering it, and the hard thing in this league is to continue doing it. I think we're doing a great job, but we've got to keep going.”
Cleveland is using what isn't working to keep growing
Although the Cavs are red-hot from an analytic standpoint, Atkinson still believes there's room for improvement. Before Cleveland hosted Orlando, Atkinson shared he wasn't thrilled about how the Cavs could have spurts where they're turnover-prone. Before playing the Magic, the Cavs were tenth in the NBA in turnovers, averaging 13.8 per game.
Those miscues led to Cleveland giving up 17.6 points off turnovers per game. While it's not entirely back-breaking, the turnovers remind the Cavs of an issue that bothered them last season. Last season, Cleveland averaged 13.6 turnovers per game during the regular season. During the playoffs, that number decreased to 12.2 turnovers per game.
Regardless, both averages were below average for the Cavs. So, in a perfect world, Atkinson would love to see his team be more mindful on offense. While Cleveland and no NBA team can play in an ideal world, it'll be worth keeping tabs on as their season rolls along -especially when the Cavs' schedule gets more competitive.
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