If the Cleveland Cavaliers want to maintain their perfect start, they will need to do so while playing on the second night of a back-to-back, as they travel to face the Washington Wizards on Saturday.
Dean Wade and Donovan Mitchell each scored 19 points to help six Cleveland players reach double digits in a 113-101 home victory against the Detroit Pistons on Friday. Jarrett Allen added 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Evan Mobley followed his 25-point performance from the Cavaliers’ 136-106 win in Toronto on Wednesday with 16 points against Detroit.
“We’re a selfless team,” Allen said. “I think we’re able to sacrifice everything for each other, night in, night out. None of us cracked 20 (points) tonight, and everybody felt (like they) had a good night.”
The Cavaliers are 2-0 in their first season under coach Kenny Atkinson. The former Brooklyn Nets coach took over from J.B. Bickerstaff, who was on the Detroit bench for the Friday game.
Atkinson, who was most recently an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors and part of their 2021-22 NBA championship team, brings offensive knowledge to a Cleveland team that has been among the best defensively over the past two seasons but has sometimes had trouble scoring.
Balanced shooting and good ball movement have helped the Cleveland offense in their first two games under Atkinson. The Cavaliers recorded 29 assists against Toronto and 28 against Detroit.
Eight Cleveland players had at least two assists on Friday, led by Darius Garland with six and Donovan Mitchell with five. Ty Jerome, who scored 13 points off the bench, added four assists.
“With the amount of weapons we have, it’s pretty easy (to score),” Wade said. “They create so much space and the defense has to over-help.”
Washington, coming off a franchise-worst record of 15-67 in the 2023-24 season, started its 2024-25 campaign with a 122-102 loss to the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics on Thursday.
Jordan Poole scored 26 points, but Kyle Kuzma was the only other starter to reach double figures, contributing 12 points. Jonas Valanciunas had 18 points and five rebounds in his Wizards debut off the bench.
Reflecting a likely rebuilding season, Washington’s starting lineup against Boston included 20-year-old second-year player Bilal Coulibaly and two 19-year-old rookies, Carlton Carrington and Alexandre Sarr.
Carrington finished his NBA debut with three points, three rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. Sarr scored two points, grabbed five rebounds, and had two blocks.
A third rookie, 20-year-old Kyshawn George, contributed four points, three rebounds, and two assists off the bench.
“It’s not about Game 10. It’s not about Game 30. It’s about what we’re doing next year. It’s about what we’re doing in a couple of years,” Poole said, according to the Washington Post, after the Thursday loss.
“And it’s a ‘be in the present’ type of thing, and it’s a ‘day by day’ thing. So I think everybody in the locker room knows that, and we just love coming to work every day and getting better, and over the course of time, everything will take care of itself.”
