WITH TWO MINUTES Left in the fourth quarter on Friday night, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Caris LeVert hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to give his team a nine-point lead over the Chicago Bulls. Almost everyone in the building realized it was a dagger that all but assured the Cavs their 14th straight victory to start the season.
But then, in a sudden surge, the Cavs played their most intense basketball of the night, moving at full speed, launching 3-pointers early in the shot clock, hitting the gas in transition and applying defensive pressure.
The Bulls, with their bench cleared, gave up 13 points in 80 blurry seconds and suddenly the Cavs were up by 18, celebrating with each addition.
Here’s why: Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson played and coached overseas for 15 years. He knows all about the rules of international-style league cups and the importance of scoring margin and total points when it comes to tiebreakers. This was the Cavaliers’ first game of the NBA Cup season and they followed their coach’s instructions.
And this little corner of the first month of this season underlines the entire focus of this surprise giant.
These Cavs are not kidding.
They have a vision, a plan, and full buy-in from a group of star players looking to prove something led by a like-minded coach. It’s an attitude they’ll adopt in Boston as they take on the defending champion Celtics on Tuesday night in the biggest test of the Cavs’ young season in what could prove to be the most impactful NBA Cup game of the playoffs. of Eastern Conference groups. The Cavs will enter a perfect 15-0 after a 14-point victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night that came with star Donovan Mitchell resting.
“This is weird,” Atkinson said. “We just have this incredible chemistry and incredible understanding and respect for each other. It’s beautiful to see.”
At 15-0 with a lead of over 12.3 points, this Cavaliers team has quickly made a statement throughout the NBA. “I think this team has something there,” Draymond Green said on his podcast. “I like that team.” (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images
THREE DAYS LATER The Golden State Warriors, off to a surprisingly unexpected 10-2 start, were destroyed by the Cavs, including a stunning 41-point deficit in the first half, Draymond Green took to his podcast to speak candidly.
“I think these Cleveland Cavaliers are serious and I’m going to tell you why,” Green said. “That ball was buzzing… My head was spinning because they were moving it so fast. I think this team has something there… I like that team.”
The Cavs had an extensive coaching search in the spring, having round after round of interviews and working internally to reach a consensus with Atkinson and New Orleans Pelicans assistant James Borrego, veterans with assistant degrees and past coaching experience. in chief. – like the last two.
Atkinson eventually accepted the offer and earned leadership of the team with his offensive vision.
Atkinson spent the next two months flying back and forth over the Atlantic between France, Cleveland and Las Vegas, watching film of Cavs games and reviewing statistics.
On hot summer nights, in an old barracks where the French national team was training for the Olympics (Atkinson was on the coaching staff that helped the team win a silver medal in Paris this summer), he laid out the details of a plan.
1: Play with your squad. Atkinson felt like president of basketball operations Koby Altman, who had made a series of aggressive trades that had allowed him to land Jarrett Allen, LeVert and then the big man in Mitchell, had built a deeper team than Altman had received credit.
Altman’s high first-round picks (Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Isaac Okoro) had hit in one way or another. He had reinforced the team in free agency with Max Strus and Georges Niang. He had found rotation players on the scrap heap, like Dean Wade and Sam Merrill.
Not only did Atkinson think all of them could play, including safety bench guard Ty Jerome, a 2023 free agent draftee who had missed all of the previous year due to injury and whom Atkinson knew from his years in Golden State. So he decided that he was going to try to interpret them. All.
2: Unleash the offensive. Two years ago, the Cavs miraculously ranked eighth in the league in offense, despite ranking last in pace, 24th in 3-point attempts and in the bottom half of the league in assist percentage. They ran an old-fashioned, low-space, low-speed offense that worked.
Last season, ravaged by injuries, they fell to 16th in offense, but their ball movement and rhythm improved. What if, Atkinson thought, he could get those same players, already on the right path, to improve even further in some impactful areas?
So the entire training camp was dedicated to encouraging speed, quick passing and movement. Pass and then move. Move and then pass. And whatever you do, do it quickly. Many boys were going to play. Everyone, including franchise player Mitchell, was going to play less than before. So it spends more energy in the minutes.
This was a sales pitch, and not a hard sell. And there was something else. Over the past two years, Mitchell, Allen, Mobley, Okoro, Strus, LeVert and Niang have signed contracts collectively worth more than $600 million. Garland’s $190 million max deal signed in 2022 also took effect, so the team was largely paid, helping create an environment for the kind of altruism Atkinson wanted to install when he returned home from Paris.
“This is a selfless team and has been since we met,” Mitchell said. “Kenny has been phenomenal with us and continues to trust us.”
Now the Cavs rank number one in the league in offense. They have moved up to #7 in pace and could go higher; They lead the league in games played and have yet to have consecutive off days all season, and they have shown it in the last few games. They are third in total three-pointers and first in three-point percentage. They lead the league in its most basic form: baskets.
“They’re moving the ball so crazy!” Green said on his podcast.
“I was excited when Draymond said that. It’s Warriors style, you know?” said Atkinson, who was a Warriors assistant the past three seasons, including a return to their bench after accepting and then leaving the Hornets’ coaching vacancy in 2022.
“That kind of ball movement is beautiful to see.”
3: A new role for Mobley. A big part of the Cavs’ coaching search was hearing candidates’ plans to get more out of Mobley, who was a defensive star from his first weeks in the league but had been a poor performer on offense. The general opinion was to get Mobley to stretch the floor with long-distance shots, something in which he did not always show great interest.
Atkinson, on the other hand, wanted him in a Green-style role, encouraging him to bring the ball up the floor after getting defensive rebounds (Mobley is in the league’s top 25 in the stat). And then, second, Atkinson envisioned Mobley being a distributor and center 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 broader overall strategy that Atkinson intended to implement. His team had elite perimeter scorers in Mitchell and Garland (both in the top 15 in 3-pointers made) and elite interior scorers in Allen and Mobley (both in the top five in dunks). And in the middle, a series 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 that word, connectors. Ty [Jerome] He’s a good connector, Georges Niang is a good connector, Dean Wade is a connector. So you have your main scorers, but the guys around them can pass the ball. And that’s what you’re seeing, 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 in bench roles, and on Sunday, Jerome lit up the Hornets, tying his career high with 24 points while starting in Mitchell’s place. Wade can defend both forward and center positions depending on the matchup. Strus was the Cavs’ number one long-range shooter last season and hasn’t even played yet due to an ankle injury.
The Cavs’ depth, their offensive speed and Mobley’s continued development have combined (massive marks in Atkinson’s scheme) in ways that have exceeded even the team’s expectations.
Atkinson admitted that he doesn’t think the Cavs can continue to perform as well offensively and expects their shooting percentages to become closer to average. But at the same time he noted that the Cavs’ shooting quality is outstanding almost every night.
Mitchell, who is on track for a sixth consecutive All-Star season, has found himself taking a similar stance.
He has been on three teams that have won more than 50 games in Utah and Cleveland and has yet to see the conference finals. He warns his teammates to keep thinking about the bigger picture, but he himself can’t help but feel the moment.
“It’s great to be a part of history. Don’t take it for granted,” Mitchell said. “At the end of the day, however, it is still this team at all times [the season]. It’s great that we’re winning, the vibes are great. But will we be this team in January, February, March and April? That has been my message.”
