The Cleveland Cavaliers weren’t being picked by many people, or perhaps by anyone, to win the NBA championship this season, but right now, they’re playing about as well as any team in basketball.
They hold a 7-0 record, and as usual, star guard Donovan Mitchell is leading the way.
On Monday, he was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for averaging 25.3 points a game on 50.6 percent field-goal shooting and 41.9 percent from 3-point range in games that were played last week.
Your Eastern Conference Player of the Week… 🕷️ #LetEmKnow
🔗 https://t.co/2uMdilJfpr pic.twitter.com/9eyhrbyOuy
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) November 4, 2024
Mitchell transformed the Cavs from a young, upstart play-in tournament team to a legitimate playoff team when he arrived two years ago in a blockbuster trade with the Utah Jazz, and they’re hoping to take the next step this season.
Last season, they finished fourth in the East with a 48-34 record and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2018.
They have largely the same roster this year as they had last year, but they have improved offensively, as they ranked second in points per game and offensive rating coming into Monday.
The big change seems to be with the pace new head coach Kenny Atkinson is having Cleveland play at — they’re 11th in pace and third in fast-break points per game after ranking 24th and 12th, respectively, in those categories last season.
Big man Evan Mobley also seems to have upped his game this season — he’s putting up 17.7 points a game to start the year.
Clevenad is taking on the struggling Milwaukee Bucks on Monday with an opportunity to improve to an 8-0 record.
NEXT: Caris LeVert Makes History With Performance Against The Bulls
