Many of the national detractors of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ season have used the 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks as the comparison. Those Hawks were coming off of three consecutive first round losses and win totals of 38, 44, and 40 (in a strike shortened season) and exploded for a 60-22 season and the #1 seed in the East.
They were swept in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Cavaliers, who were in their first year of the return of LeBron James to the franchise.
We think those critics are overlooking the difference between the rosters. Yes, four Hawks made the All-Star Game that year, but Atlanta’s best players were Al Horford, Paul Millsap, Kyle Korver, and Jeff Teague, all of whom made the all-star squad.
Side note: Current Cavs’ assistant coach DeMarre Carroll was a starter on that team.
Mike Budenholzer’s team ranked 6th in offensive and 6th in defense, and their leading scorer was Millsap at 16.7 points, with Teague pitching in 15.9 and 7 assists. Millsap was the leading rebounder at 7.8.
Our question is there is another team from the same season that the Cavaliers have much more in common with. Why doesn’t anyone compare them to the 2015 Golden State Warriors?
The Warriors won 47 games in 2012-13 and 51 in 2013-14, and then changed coaches, firing Mark Jackson and hiring Steve Kerr. Cleveland won 51 games two years ago (same as Golden State) and 48 last season before changing from J.B. Bickerstaff to Kenny Atkinson as head coach.
And we think everyone should remember that Warriors’ team went on to win the NBA title, defeating the Cavaliers in six games.
That Warriors’ team led the league in field goal percentage and in three-point shooting. Cleveand is second in the former and leads in three-point percentage.
The Cavaliers currently have the best offense in the NBA and are 7th defensively. Golden State had the second-best offense and the best defense.
Both teams were guard oriented, the Warriors led by Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Cleveland by Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland.
The Warriors’ slogan in the period was “Strength In Numbers”, an ode to Kerr’s choice to keep everyone’s minutes down. Under Jackson, four players averaged over 30 minutes per game (Curry, Thompson, David Lee, and Andre Iguodala) with the starting backcourt both getting more than 35 minutes per night.
Kerr cut that duo’s time to about 32 minutes per night and Draymond Green was the only other Warrior getting more that 30 minutes per night.
Atkinson did pretty much the same thing with this year’s Cavaliers’ squad. Mitchell averaged 35 minutes last season, one of five players averaging over 30 minutes (Garland, Max Strus, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley).
This year’s group has just three, and Garland and Mobley are barely over the 30-minute threshold. Mitchell is down four minutes per game, and 12 Cavs average over 10 minutes a game, and number a little inflated because two of them, Caris LeVert and Georges Niang, were dealt during the season.
But they were replaced by De’Andre Hunter, so really, Atkinson is using an 11-man rotation.
By the way, that Warriors’ team went on to record a 67-15 regular season record, about the same pace as the 2024-25 Cavaliers.
That Hawks’ team was very good, but let’s face it, they didn’t have the star power of either the Warriors or the current Cavalier team.
We guess the deciding argument occurs in the playoffs. Golden State won a championship.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 