WITH TWO MINUTES As Caris LeVert exited the fourth quarter on Friday night, he hit a three-pointer from the left corner to give his team a nine-point lead over the Chicago Bulls. Almost everyone in the building recognized it was a dagger that nearly secured the Cavs their 14th straight win to start the season.
But then, in a sudden upswing, the Cavs played their most intense basketball of the night, moving at full speed, shooting three-pointers at the start of the shot clock, stepping on the gas in transition and applying pressure on defense.
With the bench cleared, the Bulls gave up 13 points in a blur of 80 seconds, and suddenly the Cavs were up by 18 points – celebrating with every gain.
Here's why: Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson played and coached overseas for 15 years. He knows all about the rules for international-style League Cups and the importance of points margin and total points in tiebreakers. This was the Cavaliers' first NBA Cup game of the season and they followed their coach's instructions.
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And this little corner of the first month of this season underscores the entire approach of this surprise juggernaut.
These Cavs aren’t messing around.
They have a vision, a plan and the unwavering support of a group of star players who all want to prove that something can happen under the leadership of a coach with the same mindset. With that mindset, they'll take on the defending champion Celtics in Boston on Tuesday night for the Cavs' biggest test of their young season, which could prove to be the most impactful NBA Cup game of the Eastern Conference group stage. The Cavs will move to a perfect 15-0 after a 14-point win over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night that saw star Donovan Mitchell rest.
“That’s rare,” Atkinson said. “We just have this incredible chemistry and an incredible understanding and respect for each other. It’s beautiful to look at.”
At 15-0 and with a plus-12.3 point advantage, this Cavaliers team has quickly made a mark throughout the NBA. “I think this team has something,” Draymond Green said on his podcast. “I like this team.” (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images
THREE DAYS AFTER The Golden State Warriors, off to a surprisingly unexpected 10-2 start themselves, were destroyed by the Cavs, including a stunning 41-point deficit in the first half, Draymond Green took to his podcast for a candid conversation.
“I think these Cleveland Cavaliers are serious, and I’ll tell you why,” Green said. “That ball was buzzing. …My head was spinning, they were moving it so fast. I think this team has something there. … I like this team.”
The Cavs had a lengthy coaching search in the spring, conducting round after round of interviews and working internally to reach consensus with Atkinson and New Orleans Pelicans assistant James Borrego – veterans with assistant titles and previous head coaching experience – – than the last two.
Atkinson eventually received the offer and won over the team's leadership with his offensive vision.
Atkinson spent the next two months flying back and forth across the Atlantic between France, Cleveland and Las Vegas, watching Cavs game film and checking stats.
On hot summer nights, in an old barracks where the French national team was training for the Olympics – Atkinson was part of the coaching staff that helped the team to a silver medal in Paris this summer – he laid out the details.
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1: Play his squad. Atkinson felt like president of basketball operations Koby Altman, who had made a series of aggressive trades that brought him to Jarrett Allen, LeVert and then the big one in Mitchell, and who had built a stronger team than Altman had given credit for .
Altman's top picks in the first round – Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Isaac Okoro – had all hit in one form or another. He had strengthened the team in free agency with Max Strus and Georges Niang. He had found rotation players like Dean Wade and Sam Merrill on the scrap heap.
Not only did Atkinson believe they could all play — including deep bench guard Ty Jerome, a 2023 free agent pickup who had missed the entire year prior due to injury and whom Atkinson knew from his years in Golden State. So he decided he would try to play her. All of them.
2: Unleash the offense. Two years ago, the Cavs miraculously ranked eighth in the league in offense despite being last in pace, 24th in 3-pointers attempted and in the bottom half of the league League in assist percentage. They ran an old-fashioned, small-footprint, low-speed offense that worked.
Last season, plagued by injuries, they fell to 16th in offense, but their ball movement and pace improved. What if Atkinson thought he could get the same players who are already on the right track to improve even further in some key areas?
Therefore, the entire training camp was spent promoting speed, quick passing and movement. Pass, then move. Move, then pass. And whatever you do, do it quickly. A lot of boys would play. Everyone, including franchise player Mitchell, would play less than before. So use more energy in the minutes.
This was a selling point – and not a hard sell. And there was something else. In the past two years, Mitchell, Allen, Mobley, Okoro, Strus, LeVert and Niang have signed contracts totaling more than $600 million. Garland's $190 million max contract, signed in 2022, also took effect, leaving the team mostly paid, which helped set the mood for the kind of selflessness Atkinson wanted to bring upon his return from Paris.
Wednesday, November 20th
Bulls at Bucks, 7:30 p.m
Knicks at Suns, 10 p.m
Friday, November 22nd – NBA Cup
Warriors at Pelicans, 7:30 p.m
Mavericks at Nuggets, 10 p.m
Always east
“This is a selfless team and has been since our inception,” Mitchell said. “Kenny has been phenomenal in supporting us and he continues to trust us.”
Now the Cavs are No. 1 in the league in offense. They have moved up to 7th in pace and could climb even higher; They lead the league in games played and have yet to have consecutive days off all season, and it has shown in recent games. They rank third in total 3-pointers and first in 3-point percentage. They lead the league in its simplest form: baskets.
“They move the ball so crazy!” Green said on his podcast.
“I was thrilled when Draymond said that. It's typical of Warriors, you know?'' said Atkinson, who has served as an assistant with the Warriors for the past three seasons, including a return to their bench after accepting and then leaving the Hornets' coaching job in 2022.
“That kind of ball movement is beautiful to see.”
One of the offseason priorities for new coach Kenny Atkinson: introducing Evan Mobley in a Draymond Green-like role for the Cavs. Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images
3: A new role for Mobley. A big part of the Cavs' coaching search was listening to candidates' plans to get more out of Mobley, who was a defensive star in his first weeks in the league but underperformed offensively. The conventional wisdom was to get Mobley to stretch the floor with long-range shots, something he didn't always show much interest in.
Atkinson instead wanted him in a Green-like role, encouraging him to bring the ball up the court after defensive rebounds (Mobley is in the top 25 in the league in stats). And second, Atkinson envisioned Mobley being a distributor and hub in the half-court offense, just as Green has been with the Warriors for more than a decade. As a result, Mobley's usage rate has increased by 15% and he is scoring a career-high 18 points per game.
It was part of a larger overall strategy that Atkinson was trying to implement. His team had elite perimeter scorers in Mitchell and Garland (both top 15 in 3-point shots made) and elite interior scorers in Allen and Mobley (both top 5 in dunks). And in between a number of players who could connect them.
“I knew from the beginning that this was a group that liked each other and enjoyed playing with each other,” Atkinson said. “We have good passers and good connectors. I like the word 'connectors'. Ty.” [Jerome] is a good connector, Georges Niang is a good connector, Dean Wade is a connector. So there are the best scorers, but the guys around them can pass the ball. And that's what you see, that the ball is actually moving. We know where to get it. We make quick decisions.”
JEROME AND LEVERT Both are having the best seasons of their careers on the bench, and on Sunday Jerome lit up the Hornets, matching his career-high 24 points while starting in place of Mitchell. Wade can defend both forward and center positions depending on the matchup. Strus was the Cavs' best long-range shooter last season and didn't even play because of an ankle injury.
The Cavs' strength, their offensive speed and Mobley's continued development have come together in a way that has exceeded even the team's expectations.
Atkinson admitted he doesn't think the Cavs can continue to be as successful on offense and expects shooting percentages to get closer to the mean. But in the same breath, he pointed out that the Cavs' hitting quality was outstanding almost every night.
Mitchell, who is heading to his sixth straight All-Star season, takes a similar stance.
He played on three teams that won 50-plus games in Utah and Cleveland and still hasn't seen the conference finals. He warns his teammates to keep thinking big picture, but can't help but feel the moment himself.
“It's great to be part of history. “You shouldn’t take that for granted,” Mitchell said. “At the end of the day, it’s going to be this team the whole time.” [the season]. It's great that we win, the atmosphere is great. But will we be that team in January, February, March and April? That was my message.”
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