The Cavs remain perfect after an impressive 4-0 week.
The Cleveland Cavaliers remained perfect with four wins including an emphatic 136-117 victory over the Golden State Warriors. Let’s get into what we learned from this impressive week.
Ty Jerome pairs well with Darius Garland
It was easy to poke fun at Koby Altman’s quotes about Jerome being the MVP of September before the season. Everyone is guilty of media day hyperbole. However, you can see why Altman said that.
Jerome has saved the Cavs on more than one occasion including in the fourth quarter against the Brooklyn Nets. The two-man game he displayed with Garland down the stretch allowed them to pull out the win.
This wasn’t isolated to the fourth quarter of the Nets game. It’s something we’ve seen at other parts throughout the season.
This is the closest the Cavaliers have gotten to replicating the two-man game that Garland and Ricky Rubio had in 2021. It’s not a huge sample size, but the Cavs have registered a 128.7 offensive rating when both have been on the floor (99th percentile). Garland’s off-ball movement and Jerome’s ability as a ball handler to find openings for himself and his teammates have allowed this to work so far.
Third quarters are a problem
The Cavs have a pretty good case for being the best team in the league despite underperforming in the third quarter.
“Great teams are third-quarter teams,” Atkinson said.
By Atkinson’s standards, they haven’t been a great team.
The Cavs have been outscored by 1.3 points per 100 possessions in the third quarter which is good for 19th in the league. That was on full display again this week as they were beaten by 12 in the third by the Warriors and 14 by the Nets.
“You’re gonna say, ‘Relax man, you’re 11-0,’” Atkinson said. “But third quarters are important. That’s two nights in a row [we played poorly]. It’s a little bit of a concern. It’s something we got to look at.”
They’ve started games well and the core four has been good together. It isn’t an issue that the personnel they’re going with can’t play well together. But this needs to change if they’re going to remain one of the best teams in the league.
Isaac Okoro still struggles to back up good performances
Okoro seems to take one step back every time he takes a step forward throughout his career. That happened again this week.
His game against the Warriors was one of the most impressive of his career on both sides of the floor. Okoro punished Golden State’s defense for helping off of him while completely disrupting their offense with his ability to guard Draymond Green and switch out to Steph Curry on the perimeter. He followed that up with a poor showing against the Nets where he was an offensive liability that wasn’t able to make a big enough impact on defense to justify his place on the court.
Consistency is what separates average and above-average players. Okoro has the skills to be an above-average player that completely disrupts a game. Applying those skills has been the issue. Until he can do so consistently, he will remain the matchup-dependent role player he currently is.
The Cavs are really good
Good teams find ways to win in multiple ways. That was showcased this week. They beat the brakes off of what had been a superb Warriors team that just defeated the defending champions on their home court. The next day, they stole a victory on a night they didn’t have it by closing with a lineup that hadn’t played together all season.
There are reasons to be skeptical about the Cavs. They’re shooting well above their expected mark from three so their remarkable 123.6 offensive rating likely isn’t indicative of where the offense will be at the end of the season. There’s also a question of how this looks once teams have a better idea of how to defend Atkinson’s new-look offense. Still, it’s impossible not to be impressed by what they’ve shown so far.
We won’t truly know this team’s ceiling until the spring. That said, the early results have been phenomenal.
“They beat us by 40 in a half,” Steph Curry said Friday night. “You’re as good as your record says you are, so they’re pretty damn good right now.”
“I don’t know [how good they are],” Steve Kerr said postgame. “I’ll leave that to the analysts. I just know they kicked our ass today.”