The Cleveland Cavaliers have been on an absolute heater to start the 2024-25 season, currently sitting at a perfect 15-0 ahead of Tuesday evening’s clash with the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics. It’s not often that an early regular season game has as much hype as this matchup between Cleveland and Boston, but with the Cavs inching closer to the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors’ record start of 24-0, the NBA is hoping to bring in massive viewership for the matchup.
Speaking of the Warriors, the 2024-25 version of the team was one of the squads that Cleveland has steamrolled en route to their perfect record, going up by 41 (!) points at halftime in that contest two weeks ago. After that game, Warriors star Draymond Green took to his own The Draymond Green Show podcast with high praise for the Cavs.
“I think these Cleveland Cavaliers are serious, and I’m going to tell you why,” Green said. “That ball was humming. … My head was spinning they was moving it so fast. I think this team, they’ve got something there. … I like that team.”
Now, Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson is responding to Green’s praise.
“I was thrilled when Draymond said that. It’s Warriors-esque, you know?” said Atkinson, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
A hot start for the Cavs
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
While the Cavs were expected to be one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference this year following their first LeBron James-less playoff series win in over three decades last spring, few if any could have predicted that Cleveland would still be sitting unblemished four weeks into the season.
Donovan Mitchell has continued to play at a First Team All NBA level to open up the campaign, but it’s been the increased production from both Evan Mobley and Darius Garland that has been the key culprit for the Cavs’ hot start. Combine that with some unexpected juice from the bench in the form of Ty Jerome and other supporting cast members, and the Cavs figure to have arguably the deepest roster in the entire NBA, with plenty of star power to boot.
It remains to be seen whether all of this will be enough for the Cavs to truly pose a legitimate threat to a Celtics squad that just had one of the most dominant seasons in NBA history and is still awaiting the return of one of their best players in Kristaps Porzingis. Still, for a Cavs franchise that hasn’t had much relevancy outside of the days when number 23 wore their uniform, this start has to feel good.
