Cavs Insider

The Cavaliers Are Playing At A Championship Level Early This Season

Cleveland is 5-0 with a +91 point differential through its first five games of the 2024-25 campaign.
Logan Potosky|
Oct 26, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson looks on from the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images
Oct 26, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson looks on from the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images | Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

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Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers are off to about as dominant of a start that an NBA team could ask for.

The Wine and Gold earned their fifth consecutive win to begin the 2024-25 campaign with a resounding 134-110 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night,

While it is still very early in the season, Cleveland is playing at a championship-caliber level right now.

According to Luke Potosky on X, the 2024-25 Cavaliers are the eighth team in NBA history to start a season 5-0 with a +91 point differential or better.

Of the previous seven teams to achieve this feat, six of them made it to the NBA Finals. And four of those six to advance to The Finals, the 1964-65 and 2023-24 Boston Celtics, 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers, and 2008-09 Los Angeles Lakers, won the title.

Cleveland's early success has occurred under the leadership of new head coach Kenny Atkinson. After being hired this offseason, the 57-year-old has already made franchise history just five games into his tenure with the Wine and Gold.

A basketball coach with his arms folded while wearing a black quarter zip jacket and black pants.
Oct 26, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson looks on from the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images | Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

According to Cavs Notes on X, Atkinson is the first Cavaliers head coach to go 5-0 in his first five games with the team. He is also the first NBA head coach to win each of his first five contests with a team since Nate McMillan did so with the Atlanta Hawks during the 2020-21 season.

The Wine and Gold have excelled on both ends of the floor so far this season.

Offensively, Cleveland's 125.6 points per game rank second in the NBA, and the team has four players averaging at least 17 points per game in Donovan Mitchell (23.8), Evan Mobley (19.2), Darius Garland (17.8), and Jarrett Allen (17.8). The Cavaliers also lead the league in field goal percentage (53.9%) and three-point percentage (41.1%), while their 28.4 assists per contest rank fifth.

Defensively, the team ranks second in the NBA in steals per game (12.0), fourth in defensive rating (105.7), opponent points per game (107.4), and opponent turnovers (18.6) per game, and fifth in opponent rebounds per game (41.2).

The Wine and Gold will seek a 6-0 start to the season when they host the Orlando Magic on Friday, November 1 at 7 p.m.

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Logan Potosky
LOGAN POTOSKY

Logan Potosky is an aspiring play-by-play sports broadcaster who, to date, has called approximately 350+ hours of professional, college, and high school sporting events. He is currently the Play-by-Play Broadcaster for the Lake County Captains, the High-A Affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. He graduated from John Carroll University in May of 2023 with a degree in Communication, with a concentration in Digital Media, and a minor in Entrepreneurship.

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