Cavs indicate recent surge coming as result of renewed belief

The Cavaliers are playing their best basketball of the season, and coach Kenny Atkinson doesn’t think that’s a coincidence.

Since adding James Harden at the trade deadline, the Cavs have looked steadier, tougher, and more connected. Atkinson calls it confidence. Not the loud kind. The kind that settles a team.

“Bringing James in has given us belief,” Atkinson said after Tuesday’s win over the Knicks. “You can feel it. It makes you compete harder. Defensively especially.”

That edge had been missing at times earlier in the year. Atkinson didn’t hide that. He said the Cavs (36-22) knew they were good, but something wasn’t clicking consistently. Harden’s arrival helped change that.

The Cavs are 6-1 since the deal and have won eight of its last nine overall. The offense has been smoother, but the biggest jump may have come on the other end. Against the Knicks, the Cavs held New York to just 11 points in the third quarter and never let the game drift.

Harden has averaged nearly 19 points and eight assists in his first week with the team, all while learning on the fly. Donovan Mitchell noted the Cavs have barely practiced since the trade, relying instead on film and feel.

“That’s why all year I’ve been talking about a lot of the struggles we went through,” he said. “It’s kind of good to have because it’s like, you have stuff to point back to. So when you get into these situations, you have a team on the ropes, you got to finish it and get a knockout punch.”

That trust showed Tuesday. The Cavs didn’t panic. They didn’t relax. They finished.

For Atkinson, that’s the sign things are turning.

The Cavs always had talent. Now, they’re starting to play like they know it.

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