SOS! Cavs are feasting on NBA’s bottom feeders

It’s a great time to be a Cleveland Cavaliers fan.

After a wire-to-wire win over the woeful Washington Wizards Tuesday night, the Cavs own the best record in the NBA at 19-3. Only a quarter of the way into the 2024-2025 season, Cavs fans already have witnessed the longest winning streak in franchise history.

And coach Kenny Atkinson has implemented an up-tempo offense that leads the NBA in points per game, field-goal percentage and 3-point percentage – a welcome change from the plodding half-court misery of the J.B. Bickerstaff era.

Twenty-two games into the 2023 season, the Cavaliers were 13-9. They didn’t hit their stride until January, when the Cavs reeled off eight-game and nine-game winning streaks, respectively, the latter of which spilled over into February.

What’s different this year?

For one thing, the “Core Four” has been relatively healthy.

Last season, Jarrett Allen missed the first five games with a bone bruise in his left ankle. Darius Garland strained his hamstring during the 2023 season opener against Brooklyn and missed the next four games. Not to be outdone, Donovan Mitchell missed four games with a hamstring injury.

When the Cavs played Indiana on Oct. 28, 2023, their starting lineup looked like this: Caris LeVert, Max Strus, Dean Wade, Isaac Okoro and Evan Mobley. They lost that game, 125-113.

By this time last season, the Cavs had played Oklahoma City twice, the Knicks twice, the Heat twice and Portland twice. Their schedule also included dates with Denver, Philadelphia and the Lakers.

But enough about last season. Through the first 22 games, this year’s schedule has been far more favorable.

Tuesday night’s thrashing of the Wizards marked the second time the Cavs have played Washington so far. They’ve played the Bulls and Pelicans twice as well.

The first 22 games also have included dates with the Pistons, Nets and Hornets.

All wins.

Quantitatively speaking, the Cavs have enjoyed one of the NBA’s easiest schedules. According to ESPN’s Strength of Schedule rankings, only Detroit, Indiana, Memphis and Miami have had easier schedules so far.

Heading into Wednesday night’s NBA action, the Cavs and Hawks were tied for the fifth-lowest Strength of Schedule percentage, at .472.

The Celtics rank 12th at .491.

Interestingly, the Cavs rank third in ESPN’s Relative Percent Index, which evaluates teams based on their performance and strength of schedule. According to ESPN.com, the weighting for the ESPN RPI is 25% team winning percentage, 50% opponents’ average winning percentage and 25% opponents’ opponents’ average winning percentage.

Oklahoma City has the No. 1 RPI at .588, followed by Boston (.571) and Cleveland (.570).

While the naysayers will point to the Strength of Schedule metric to try to undermine the team’s 19-3 start, the Cavs have been doing what good teams are supposed to do: Take care of business against inferior opponents.

In terms of the playoff seeding, taking advantage of a relatively easy early-season schedule – and front-loading wins at a franchise-best pace – could pay huge dividends for a team that has aspirations of making a deep postseason run.

The schedule is about to get tougher too. Over the next month and a half, the Cavs play Denver and Oklahoma City twice. The second date with Denver will be part of a four-game West Coast swing that also includes Golden State, the Lakers and Dallas.

This team is ‘connected’

Sure, the Cavs’ strength of schedule has been in their favor. But they’ve still faced some adversity.

Max Strus has yet to play a regular-season game due to an ankle injury sustained during an individual workout. Dean Wade, Caris LeVert and Sam Merrill – key rotation pieces – each have missed at least four games.

Wade – who brings badly needed size and defensive tenacity to the rotation – has missed eight games. The talented 6-9 forward from Kansas State has had trouble staying healthy throughout his career. He played in 54 games last season and 44 the year before.

Working in the Cavs’ favor: the team’s chemistry. The roster is largely unchanged from last year, and the Core Four has been together since 2022.

“Connected is the word” that “keeps coming back to me,” Atkinson told reporters after the Cavs’ 118-87 romp Tuesday night. “We’re connected on both ends. We’re connected in the locker room. It’s like 1 through 18, we just have this special chemistry.

“I’m not saying that lightly. … This is like true connectedness, true synergy, across the roster. Obviously the talent is elite. But I think that’s how you get off to one of these great starts. That’s the main thing that stands out to me.”