Cavaliers receive impressive grade for first quarter of NBA season

A quarter into the 2024-25 NBA season, the Cleveland Cavaliers are the best team in the Eastern Conference, with an impressive 19-3 record.

For a roster that looks almost identical to last year’s, this team looks completely different under new head coach Kenny Atkinson.

That hot start earned the Wine and Gold and an impressive rating from CBS Sports NBA analyst Jasmyn Wimbish.

Wimbish gave the Cavaliers an “A” for the start of the season and had positive things to say about their outlook for the rest of the year.

“There were questions about how Atkinson would be very different from JB Bickerstaff and how he would exploit the talent on this team, which Bickerstaff just couldn’t do. Well, early results suggest that “These questions were a bit overblown, as the Cavaliers rode a ridiculous 15 game winning streak to start the season,” Wimbish wrote.

“One of the main reasons the Cavaliers win so many games is 3-point shooting. They lead the league in that category with 40.5%, but in two of their three losses so far, they’ve had struggling to produce in attack when the 3 are weak it doesn’t fall.”

Check out Wimbish’s full analysis on the Cavaliers and the rest of the Eastern Conference here.

This rating and justification constitutes a very fair analysis for the start of the Wine and Gold season. They turned out the lights behind the arc, and their offense was much faster and more efficient under Atkinson.

However, not giving Cleveland an “A+” is also understandable.

As Wimbish mentions, Cleveland’s offense has looked a little stagnant at times when threes aren’t falling. If we want to nitpick a little more, there are also real questions about the Cavaliers’ questionable three-point defense.

But defense is just a small concern for the Cavaliers ahead of a start to the season that will go down in the franchise’s record books.