Cavs Notes: East’s top seed, Kenny Atkinson, Ty Jerome, franchise record

The Cavaliers can clinch the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference with a home win Sunday over the Sacramento Kings. They can also avenge an unexpected loss in Sacramento a few weeks ago.

But the coolest part would be clinching the East. Think about what everyone predicted before the season.

Everyone said the Cavaliers didn’t make enough offseason moves to become a contender — that all they did was hire a coach (Kenny Atkinson). As for the roster, well, head of basketball operations Koby Altman didn’t really mess with it. Instead, the Cavs wanted to bank on the familiarity of the core four: Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen.

But again, all the experts said that wouldn’t be enough. After all, the New York Knicks went out and got Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns. And the Philadelphia 76ers added Paul George to Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. 

Cleveland didn’t do enough to match, the narrative strongly suggested.

Yet here the Cavaliers are today, 62-15, leading the conference and moments away from clinching the No. 1 seed in the East playoffs. Atkinson will tell you there’s still work to be done, and that is true.

But a great start will soon be capped by a fantastic regular-season finish. And what a remarkable body of work from this year’s Cavs. Fans of this team were able to witness Cleveland sports history in the making.

• Cavs guard Ty Jerome (knee) and Dean Wade (illness) are listed as questionable. That’s an upgrade for Jerome, who has missed the last five games. Wade has missed two. Atkinson said Jerome would be playing if these were playoff games.
• It will be interesting to see how the Cavs approach things once they do clinch the East. They can still beat or tie the franchise-best record of 66-16. I haven’t asked anyone directly, but I don’t think that’s a big goal of the team. Just the sense I’m getting.