Analyzing the hot start of Cleveland Cavaliers in 2021-22 NBA season
The Cleveland Cavaliers are 9-5 early in the 2021-22 NBA season. Winners of the last 2 and 7 of their last 10, the Cavaliers are exhibiting a consistency not seen since LeBron James led the Cavs to their first ever NBA title in 2016.
J.B. Bickerstaff, a second generation NBA head coach, is making an early mark in Cleveland, and with such an impressionable young roster, Bickerstaff could be in the process of creating a formidable up-and-coming team - especially on the defensive end.
The 19-point comeback win against the reeling Boston Celtics last night was just the latest game that is becoming more household than surprising. What's going on with the Cavaliers, and what have they done to one of the NBA's more inept teams?
"LET 'EM KNOW!"
Darius Garland speaks on his team's defensive intensity, rookie Evan Mobley's aggressiveness and Ricky Rubio's leadership after the @cavs 19-point comeback win! 🗣️ https://t.co/eRmjYZqDyn
Cleveland Cavaliers
Kevin Love, Lauri Markkanen and Collin Sexton were out against the Boston Celtics last night and the Cavs still won. That's a combined 40 points missing from their rotation, and despite the Cavaliers shooting a paltry 38.3% from the field and 26.3% from the arc, they pulled out the comeback win. The Cavaliers' record is their best start in five years, and Bickerstaff's team is playing so well because they seem to love winning together as a unit. The Cavaliers' fanbase is getting behind the early excitement in Believeland, and the fact that the team is beginning to climb the NBA ladder without LeBron James on the roster is encouraging optimism to believe in.
Evan Mobley
If the season were to end today, Evan Mobley would run away with the NBA Rookie of the Year. His numbers: 15.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks (21 and 11 per 48 minutes), and what is most assuredly the biggest surprise is his effect on the Cavaliers defense. The third pick in last year's NBA Draft has made the biggest impact by any NBA rookie. Bickerstaff believes so much in his poised rookie that plays are called for him late in shot clocks and also late in games.
The Cavs have been in many tight games early on, and Mobley is becoming a rock of a stud on both ends. He does not care about stats; he cares about winning, and that a rookie is so much of a leader despite having zero NBA experience coming into the season is exciting in its potential. He has a net rating of 1.8 (offensive 113.9; defensive 112.1). and his usage rate of 19.2 will climb as he becomes better offensively. To be compared to Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan in his rookie year is remarkable, yet he's leading the NBA in contested shots per game at 14.9 so it all makes sense. NBA fans could be looking at an all-time defender.
Ricky Rubio tonight:
37 PTS (career-high)
10 AST
8-9 3P (career-high)
He is the first player in NBA history with 30+ points, 10+ assists, 8+ threes in a game off the bench. https://t.co/FPh7PE0Beh
Ricky Rubio
The Rocket Mortgage Field House fans are especially appreciative of Ricky Rubio. The reserve point guard has steadied the roster with all of his vast experience both here and abroad. He has been the help Darius Garland needs to develop. Rubio has been known to push younger guards, and his time in Utah helped make Donovan Mitchell one of the best guards in the NBA. The Spaniard is a great piece for the Cavaliers as they build potentially into a contender, and being the second coach on the floor, Rubio understands his role. Averaging 13.7 points, 6.9 and 3.7 boards for the young Cavs on 37.8 shooting from both the floor and the arc, Rubio is a constant that Bickerstaff needs to help his team expansively mature as fast as possible.
🔥 @evanmobley comes up big in the @cavs 19-point comeback win.
19 points (12 in 4th quarter)
9 boards
3 blocks https://t.co/7cE4nAppkI
Colin Sexton, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen
Jarrett Allen is the reigning NBA Player of the Week. He put up 20 and 16 boards for the Cavs as yet another player stepped up and Allen has been true for the Cavs. Defensively, he and Mobley are treacherous on teams down low.
The pick-and-roll between Garland and Mobley is becoming a fixture. Garland is a magician in the set, and the Cavaliers have a go at scoring when buckets are needed. Garland is a pretty good playmaker, and in his third year seems to have found command of the offense. Garland is hitting 40% of his threes, and his 16.8 points and 7.1 assists lead the Cavs. Colin Sexton was having a decent season before he tore his meniscus and will be out for a while.
Cleveland Cavaliers chemistry
The Cavaliers are second in the NBA in opposing points at 101 per game and sixth in defensive rating with 104.6. Garland and Mobley are forming one of the best young duos in the NBA, and when watching the Cavs, there is a fun they are hungry to achieve, and the wins come as a result.
Bickerstaff is a NBA Coach of the Year candidate very early in the season, and what he has done with this young roster and sprinkled it on vets is create a culture of team-based basketball.
Having a young team in Cleveland that the city is excited to support will only augment the NBA regarding small-market franchises, and as the Milwaukee Bucks became the model, the Cavaliers are looking up to the NBA champs with an opportunity to one day follow suit.