Cleveland-Kenny Atkinson thought during the training camp that the realistic objectives for the Cleveland Cavaliers would be 50 victories and a seed in the top three at the Eastern Conference.
The Cavaliers exceeded those goals a while ago, with Atkinson now planning a possible championship race.
Cleveland concluded the best seed in the east with his 135-113 victory over the Chicago Bulls Tuesday night. It is the fourth time in the history of the franchise that the Cavaliers will enter the playoffs with the best record of the conference. The last time was 2016, when the Cavaliers won their first NBA title and gave Cleveland their first professional sports championship in 52 years.
“Yes, I mean, I think you celebrate these moments,” said Atkinson. “You know, we’ll talk about the future, how it looks, but today, we celebrate tonight. And, you know, I think the boys are very happy in that costumes.”
Cleveland had 48-34 last season and advanced to the semifinals of the ESA conference before losing to the eventual champion of the NBA Boston in five games. The Cavaliers fired JB BickerStaff at the end of the season and replaced him with Atkinson.
With a new coach in charge, Cleveland had a quick start, becoming the fourth team in the NBA history to win at least its first 15 games. It is the third team in the history of the League that has at least three streaks of 12 wins in a season, including a race of 16 games from February 3 to March 14.
However, the cavs lost four consecutive, after their streak of franchise record victories, but they have recovered to win seven of 10. In 63-16, they need to win their last three games to match the franchise record for most victories in a season.
“You know, we leave the door very fast,” Atkinson said. “We advanced early. And then, we had some ups and downs this past month, but really proud of the boys, proud of the organization. It is difficult to win 63 games in this league. It is difficult to be the first seed. We all know it. Very great achievement, obviously. We are hungry for more.”
Atkinson had some preliminary discussions with his coaching staff about the approach to take during the rest of the regular season once the upper seed was secured, but those plans can increase with three remaining games to the playoffs.
Cleveland has road games against Indiana and New York on Thursdays and Fridays, respectively, before organizing the Pacers on Sunday.
Since the Cavaliers do not have their first playoff game until April 20, there is a good balance between ensuring that players are reaching their maximum point in the postseason while trying to rest with their locked seed.
“I think there are several options on the table. It will be something collaborative and the players are part of that,” Atkinson said. “What is your feeling about the rhythm? We can do strasquad scrimages to prepare. We can do many things to prepare.”
Guard Ty Jerome pointed out that the Cavaliers are on the same boat as many teams that enter the playoffs, with the extended rest before the first round begins.
“You use that week to do your body well, get an additional elevator and get some good practices in the sense that we have not been able to have,” he said. “From the rest of the stars, you really don’t have time to practice much.”
A player that Atkinson would like to rest for the rest of the regular season is Donovan Mitchell. The star guard was lost Tuesday’s game due to a left ankle that he suffered during the defeat last Sunday against Sacramento.
Mitchell, who averages 24 leading points in the team, will have some information about the decision about the last three games, but Atkinson said he would prefer Mitchell to rest.
With Mitchell out of the alignment, Darius Garland broke out of his fall of shooting with 28 points against the Bulls. The sixth year guard was 34 of 90 from the field and 15 of 43 in triples in its last six games prior to Tuesday, but it was 10 of 17 and 6 of 10 from beyond the arc vs. Chicago
“It was good to see something going through the network,” he said. “My teammates were in me to be myself. It was good to have one of these games safely.”
Garland also knows that expectations for cavaliers will be extremely high after winning the upper seed.
“It’s different because we are now hunted,” he said. “So we always have to play the best we can, no matter who is or who it is. So I think that goes up a bit.”
Associated Press’s information was used in this report.