Preview: Warriors clash with Cavaliers in battle of elite teams

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The Golden State Warriors have an electrifying team that still hasn’t figured out the depths of their true power. They’ll be clashing in a high-profile contest with a powerful Cleveland Cavaliers team in what could be an NBA Finals preview.

No LeBron James or Klay Thompson, but there’s still plenty of action on today’s showcase. The more things change, the more they stay the same, amirite?

#BEATCLEVELAND

Golden State Warriors at Cleveland Cavaliers

When: November 8th, 2024 | 4:30 PM PT

TV: NBC Sports Bay Area

Radio: 95.7 The Game

The Warriors are off to a hot start with a 7-1 record and five road wins. The Cavaliers are off to a RED hot start with a 9-0 record, best in franchise history.

And would you guess who their coach is? Kenny Atkinson, former Warriors assistant head coach! We gotta take a look at the Steve Kerr coaching tree, because this is a great sign of his impact on personnel. And per our old blog buddy Fear the Sword, Coach Atkinson is having an immediate impact on the Cavs’ offense with an eye towards improvement:

The undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers have been winning with their offense just as much as with their defense. The Cavs have the second-best offense in the league (122.4 offensive rating) after Monday’s win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

There hasn’t been much to complain about with their attack. Kenny Atkinson was brought in to overhaul the offense and he has. Still, he thinks that there’s room to improve, especially with getting second chance opportunities.

“We’re not offensive rebounding at the level that I thought we could or should,” Atkinson said when asked before Monday’s game about where his team could improve most offensively.

“We’re 25th or something. Can we get more to the middle of the pack? I’m not saying we’re going to be one or two in the league, but I definitely think we could do better there.”

Nice work Cavaliers, you’re 15 games away from the best start in NBA history, accomplished by… the Warriors back in the 2015-2016! Gosh that was a helluva squad.

Let’s see how it all shakes down today in Cleveland, next!