Former Golden State assistant Kenny Atkinson returns to San Francisco on Monday, leading the red-hot Cleveland Cavaliers, owners of the NBA’s best record, into a showdown with the host Warriors.
Atkinson, in his first season at the helm for Cleveland, spent three seasons working alongside Golden State head coach Steve Kerr, including in the Warriors’ 2021-22 championship-winning campaign. Atkinson introduced a high-tempo offensive approach in Cleveland akin to Golden State’s signature style, and it has paid immediate dividends for the Cavaliers.
They come into Golden State on a six-game winning streak and winners in 10 of 11 after opening a four-game, Western Conference road swing on Friday with a 149-135 win over the Denver Nuggets.
The 149 points marked the season high for a Cleveland offense producing 122.7 points per game, second-most in the league. Friday’s victory also showcased the Cavaliers’ scoring balance, with Donovan Mitchell’s 33 points leading four players who notched at least 22.
Mitchell’s 23.6 points per game lead Cleveland, Darius Garland is putting up 20.6 ppg, and Evan Mobley is averaging 18.8.
A key to Cleveland’s potent offense — and a quality similar to that of the Golden State teams which Atkinson coached — has been the Cavaliers’ 3-point shooting. They hit 23 triples in Denver and head into Monday’s contest making 16.3 attempts per game.
“Don’t leave me open. Don’t leave nobody open on our team,” Mobley told Cleveland.com. “(With) the depth of our team, everybody can shoot. Also, our shot quality is one of the tops so we’re not just forcing 3s, we’re taking the good ones night in and night out.”
That shot quality shows up in Cleveland averaging a league-leading 40.9 percent from beyond the arc.
Golden State comes into Monday’s contest not far behind Cleveland in 3-pointers made per game with 15, but the Warriors’ percentage lingers around the middle of the NBA at 36.2. Two-time Most Valuable Player Steph Curry is shooting 40.6 percent from outside, but his 4.2 made per game are on pace to be his fewest in a full season since 2017-18.
But with Curry averaging a team-leading 22.5 points per game, Golden State is seeking more scoring options to step up alongside him in the Warriors’ push for the postseason.
Following the Warriors’ 109-105 win over Phoenix on Saturday that put them above .500 after a stretch losing six of seven, Draymond Green told reporters that Golden State is looking for more contributions from Buddy Hield in particular.
“We need Buddy Hield to play great, we need Buddy Hield to make shots,” Green said. “It’s simple. We’re 16-15. We don’t love this. So do we just keep doing the same thing and sit back on our hands, ‘Oh, it’s going to change at some point.’ Or do we make a change?”
Hield went from Philadelphia to Golden State in an offseason trade and is scoring 12.9 points per game while shooting almost 40 percent from behind the arc.
Jonathan Kuminga has provided offensive punch for Golden State in the last two outings, improving his season scoring average to 16.7 ppg with back-to-back 34-point efforts on Friday against the Clippers and in the win over Phoenix.
“This is exactly what we’re looking for, and it’s fun to see him deliver,” Kerr said of Kuminga.
–Field Level Media
