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 Cavaliers team clicking like never before.
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, which 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 NBA 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 has never been a Cavaliers team that started any better.
The 14-game winning streak is the longest in club history — the Cavaliers 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.
A win Sunday would put them in rarefied air as only four teams have started 15-0.
Mitchell scored a season-high 37 points and Garland had 29 for the Cavaliers, whose 49 first-quarter points were the most in a quarter in franchise history. In total, their 144 points tied for their fifth most in a game in franchise history, according to ESPN Research.
“We just have this incredible chemistry, incredible understanding of each other … and respect for each other,” Atkinson said. “It’s beautiful, beautiful to watch.”
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 2003-04 season.
While Atkinson inherited a team that made the Eastern Conference semifinals under J.B. Bickerstaff, the 57-year-old has made the Cavaliers even better by buying into an up-tempo offensive system designed around spacing, 3-pointers and ball movement.
The Cavaliers 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 Cavaliers moved the ball better than any team he has seen — including the title winners he has 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 his team be satisfied either. After the Cavaliers allowed 73 points in the first half, the coach angrily slammed a shower sandal in the 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 Cavaliers have been perfect, and it never hurts to have a player of Mitchell’s magnitude leading the way.
His season-high 37 included 18 in the fourth quarter to put away the Bulls, who were still within four points in the final three minutes before 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 Cavaliers closed with a 21-7 flurry.
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 Cavaliers. He loved the city. He believed in the team’s young core. He knew the Cavaliers 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 Cavaliers want to make it last.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
