CLEVELAND – The floor and ball both looked different. Not the Cleveland Cavaliers, who remained unchanged — and unblemished.
They continued their perfect start, improving to 14-0 on Friday night with a 144-126 win over the Chicago Bulls in an NBA Cup opener that served as another showcase for a Cavs team clicking like never before.
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After the final buzzer, Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen celebrated more history by dancing on the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse court with a giant green frog, who has quickly become an impromptu mascot to an unscripted start.
“It's Cleveland,” Allen said, trying to explain the amphibian's sudden arrival. “It's just a vibe in the city and I hope it doesn't change.”
Even playing without starting forward Evan Mobley, Cleveland became the sixth team in league history to win its first 14 games and the first since the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, who opened 24-0 and finished 73-9.
There's no telling where this season is headed in Cleveland, but there's never been a Cavs team that has started any better.
The 14-game winning streak is the longest in club history — the Cavs had three 13-gamers with LeBron James on the roster — as first-year coach Kenny Atkinson has pushed every correct button while dipping deep into his bench each game.
Atkinson, who spent the past three seasons on Golden State's staff after a four-year run as Brooklyn's coach, now has the longest winning streak of any coach with a new team. He entered the game tied with Lawrence Frank, who won 13 in a row after taking over the Nets midway through the 2004 season.
While Atkinson inherited a team that made the Eastern Conference semifinals under J.B. Bickerstaff, the 57-year-old has made the Cavs even better by buying into an up-tempo offensive system designed around spacing, 3-pointers and ball movement.
The Cavs are winning selflessly.
“From the beginning, I knew it was a group that liked each other, that enjoyed playing with each other,” Atkinson said. “I knew we had good passers. We have good connectors. We know where to get it. We make quick decisions.”
After Cleveland blew out Golden State last week, Warriors forward Draymond Green said the Cavs moved the ball better than any team he's seen — including the title winners he's been on.
“I was so thrilled when Draymond said that the other day,” Atkinson said. “He was just really impressed how we pinged the ball around. How we drive, kick, swing. We get it out of pick and roll. We get it in fast-break situations, and it is Warriors-esque. It’s really that type of ball movement. It’s beautiful to watch.”
Atkinson isn't letting him team be satisfied either. After the Cavs allowed 73 points in the first half, the coach angrily slammed a shower sandal in locker room at halftime.
“That's what we want,” Mitchell said. “We all prefer that. We hear how good we are. For us, that's how we get better. We haven't lost, but how do you continue to find ways to build habits? It's continuing to coach hard and not let any lapses. That's what you want in a coach.”
To this point, the Cavs have been perfect, and it never hurts to have a player of Mitchell's magnitude leading the way.
He scored a season-high 37 — 18 in the fourth quarter — to put away the Bulls, who were still within four points in the final three minutes when Cleveland went on what has become known as a “Cav-a-lanche” in recent years.
Substitute Caris LeVert and Mitchell both hit 3-pointers as the Cavs closed with a 21-7 flurry. A win on Sunday would put them in rarified air as only four teams have started 15-0.
Sensing his team needed more from him, Mitchell opened the fourth by scoring Cleveland's first nine points.
“That was him,” Atkinson said. “That wasn’t us. It wasn’t me saying it. He just senses what does the team need right now? And that could be him or it could be someone else. And that speaks to his IQ, just understanding of who’s on the court, who he’s playing with.”
“We’re searching for scoring a little bit and he just took over.”
This is what Mitchell had in mind when he signed a three-year, $150 million contract extension this summer and committed to the Cavs.
He loved the city. He believed in the team's young core. He knew the Cavs were capable of doing big things.
Mitchell didn't see the streak — or the frog, who had been seen on the streets outside the arena — coming.
“That was fun,” he said. “Shocked the hell out of me when I saw the frog. It was pretty dope. It was like just a vibe.”
The Cavs want to make it last.
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