Cavaliers mark historic 9-0 start by making coach Kenny Atkinson wet

NEW ORLEANS – Following Jarrett Allen’s lead, the Cleveland Cavaliers celebrated the first 9-0 start to a season in franchise history by pouring water bottles over coach Kenny Atkinson’s head in the locker room.

There will be much bigger games, with higher stakes, than the Cavs’ 131-122 victory in New Orleans on Wednesday night.

But Atkinson didn’t mind taking a moment to enjoy something no other Cavs team had done in the 55 years since Cleveland joined the NBA for the 1970-71 season.

“You have to,” said Atkinson, who also became the first NBA coach to win his first nine games with a new team. ‘This season is so long. It’s so hard to win in this competition. So when you have moments like this, you have to celebrate a little bit.”

After hitting 54.2% of their shots in the Big Easy – including 48.6% (17 of 35) from three-point range – the Cavs are shooting an NBA-best 52.6% on the season from the field.

“We’re playing good basketball,” said All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, who had a team-high 29 points in New Orleans while five other teammates scored 11 or more. “We’ve done it in so many different ways. We’ve had blowouts, close games, come-from-behind wins.

“It’s the customs that really get me excited about what we do,” Mitchell said. “My biggest thing is just being consistent. Let us continually be this team.”

Cleveland next plays at home Friday night against the Golden State Warriors, who set the NBA record for best start to a season by winning their first 24 games during the 2015-16 season.

Against the Pelicans, the Cavs got 50 points from the reserves, while four of the five starters scored 14 or more.

“Again, everyone is doing their part,” Atkinson said. “That’s what good teams do. Physically we are in a good place. We are in a good place mentally.

“When you win nine times in a row, it’s not one or two guys; it’s the entire roster,” he added.

In his four previous seasons as head coach at Brooklyn, Atkinson had just one winning record, going 42-40 in 2018-19.

He spent the past four seasons as an assistant: the first with the Los Angeles Clippers and the last three with Golden State.

Now he’s off to quite a promising start in his second stint as head coach, albeit with a team that won a playoff series a season ago and is expected to be back in the Eastern Conference postseason picture this season.

“The atmosphere is great, the energy is great, he’s done a great job with us and we’ve bought in as well,” Mitchell said. “He gave us input, but he also let us provide input and I think that’s what’s special.”

Atkinson, meanwhile, sounds pleased with the synergy he senses not only among his players, but between them and himself.

“What I think about is this team and the camaraderie they have, the chemistry we have and how connected they are,” Atkinson said. “I’ve been lucky enough to join a really good group, a group that has been very successful in the past and I’m happy for them – and I think they’re happy for me in the dressing room.

“There is a bond between the head coach and a team,” Atkinson continued. “You have to celebrate those moments and that’s pretty cool.”