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The Cleveland Cavaliers took a step forward in the playoffs last season, beating the Orlando Magic in seven games in the first round before suffering a second-round exit against the eventual champion Boston Celtics. Still, the Cavs faced major offseason decisions on what to do with their core of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen as trade rumors swirled.
Rather than blowing the roster up, Cleveland inked Mitchell and Mobley to long-term contract extensions while making a change at head coach. The Cavs moved on from J.B. Bickerstaff and hired Kenny Atkinson. These decisions have paid dividends so far, giving Cleveland a dream start to the 2024-25 NBA season. As a result, the Cavs' most pleasant surprise early in the 2024-2025 season has been the coaching brilliance of Atkinson.
Cavs' historic start
The Cavs are currently the top seed in the Eastern Conference, holding a 17-2 win-loss card after a surprising defeat against the Atlanta Hawks gave them just their second loss of the season. The first was a 120-117 defeat against the Celtics.
Prior to their loss in Boston, Cleveland got out to a 15-0 start, which is tied for the second-longest winning streak to start a season in NBA history. It's also considered to be the best start by any head coach with a new team in NBA history for Atkinson. The Cavs have clearly taken well to Atkinson's coaching and look like an NBA title contender because of it, playing with more pace and shooting the lights out from 3-point range to the tune of a league-best 40.8% mark.
Cavs getting it done on both ends of the floor
With the promotion of Atkinson as the team's head coach, things have changed dramatically in positive fashion at Cleveland. Behind that hot 3-point shooting, the Cavs are currently the best offensive team in the NBA with 122.4 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com. Cleveland is just outside the top 10 on defense and third overall in net rating.
While the Cavs have been getting job done, make no mistake, Atkinson believes the team is still a work in progress. Given the NBA has a long season, opening up cases of unpredictability and injuries, the Cavs head coach is focusing on getting better and making sure the team sticks to its identity. Thus far, this has worked beautifully, setting aside some slippage in the loss to Atlanta.
Atkinson is not a stranger in the NBA, having served as the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets back in 2016-2020. He has also served as an assistant for the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors, where he won his first NBA championship as part of the coaching staff. With plenty of experience under his belt, it's safe to say that the Cavs are on the right track to really make some noise under Atkinson's tutelage.
More chemistry and depth
Basketball fans will agree the Cavs have a bevy of All-Stars and personnel to make noise. However, recent playoff exits showed this team had some redundancies and chemistry issues as well. Since Atkinson was installed as the team's head coach, it seems those issues have been addressed in Cleveland.
Chemistry wise, Mitchell and Garland have emerged as a menacing backcourt duo after the latter's struggles last season caused concern about the pairing. Mitchell continues to play like a superstar, but even more important is Garland having a bounce-back season. The point guard is averaging 20.2 points and 6.9 assists while shooting a red-hot 43.0% from 3-point range.
In the frontcourt, the Cavs are also enjoying the breakout season of Mobley, who's averaging a career-high 17.8 points to go along with 9.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. On the other hand, Allen is having another solid year with averages of 14.9 points and 1.1 blocks per game to go along with a career-best 11.0 rebounds per outing.
Under Atkinson, the bench has also been thriving for Cleveland. Ty Jerome and Caris LeVert have been crucial for the team's second unit. They've been contributing 12.3 and 11.8 points off the bench, respectively, with Jerome becoming a Sixth Man of the Year candidate as he shoots a ridiculous 53.2% on 3-pointers.
Atkinson is pushing all the right buttons with this team. The true tests will still come in the playoffs, but for now, this Cavs team looks for real.
