After starting the season with a 15-game winning streak, the Cavaliers have remained hot. They currently have the NBA's best record at 23-4. Ideastream Public Media's sports commentator Terry Pluto gives credit to new head coach Kenny Atkinson.
Pluto said the Cavs made a big statement this week; Beating Atkinson's former team, the Brooklyn Nets, by nearly 30 points.
Atkinson, a New York area native, was head coach of the Nets for four seasons, from 2016-2020.
“(Atkinson) was making very good progress, taking over a bad team," Pluto said. "He won 20 games his first year, 28 his second year (and) his third year, he was 42-40 and they made the playoffs."
The team took a different direction in Atkinson’s fourth season, bringing in stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
“Kevin Durant didn’t play; he was hurt and Irving was mad and (Atkinson) ended up being fired with a 28 and 34 record,” Pluto said.
In Atkinsons first visit to Brooklyn with his new team, Pluto said he was taken aback by how the Cavs rallied around him.
“When a coach gets fired, the players, they don't seem to really care whether the coach is going back to the team that fired him," Pluto said. "But these guys, they really wanted to make a statement that, Brooklyn, you fired the wrong guy here.
“On top of that, what I thought was just very interesting was how the different players talked about that after the game, that they knew the game was important to Kenny," Pluto said. "I think Kenny had like a dozen relatives at the game and they made it something special and then they played like it."
Embracing Atkinson
Pluto said how the Cavs approached Monday’s game against the Nets showed how the team is embracing Atkinson.
“They bought into him from the moment he arrived,” Pluto said. “(Atkinson) worked very hard in the offseason of creating relationships with players. I mean, he knew some of these guys casually and two of them, Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen, played for him during those early days in Brooklyn when he was building a young team.”
Pluto said Atkinson had a blueprint of how to revive the offense.
“They're scoring a lot more than they did in the past, and their defense is about as good as it was, and they clearly embraced…not only Atkinson, I think as a person, but the style of play,” Pluto said.
Unlocking Evan Mobley
The Cavs are seeing breakout seasons from Darius Garland and Evan Mobley. Mobley, in his fourth NBA season at age 23, is coming off a career high 41point performance last week. He scored 21 points on Monday against the Nets.
“He is maturing (and) physically getting stronger and one of the things that Kenny Atkinson sold the Cavaliers on, when they were in the process of hiring him, was that he called it unlocking Evan Mobley, that we can get more out of him offensively," Pluto said. "He's the key thing to this team making another step."
The key for Atkinson has been to get the core group of starters playing better together.
“It's not a matter of breaking up Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, two big guys, because sometimes one theory is you can't have two seven-footers playing at the same time, or breaking up the two smaller guards, Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell," Pluto said. "It's not about that at all, he was telling them. It's about getting them in the right position to get more out of them and so they flow better."
Pluto believes the team could win 55 or more games this season. He says Atkinson is working on making sure his stars stay healthy.
“He's playing his star players a little less than they played in the past," Pluto said. "In fact, they want to keep Donovan Mitchell's minutes, I've been told this, to 32 minutes a game or less in most games."
Ultimately, Pluto believes the selflessness of the players has been at the root of their success.
“They're having fun playing," Pluto said. "They're fun to watch play because the players are so unselfish, the ball moves so much. I just think if you're a purist like I am, it's easy to embrace that also."
