By james art 
The Cleveland Cavaliers got off to a red-hot start to the 2024-25 NBA season, which continued with a thrilling win over the Milwaukee Bucks at home on Monday night. The Cavs are now a perfect 8-0, thanks in no small part to the incredible play of shooting guard Donovan Mitchell, who hit the game-winner in the previous game between Cleveland and Milwaukee on Saturday night.
On Monday, Mitchell was rewarded for his efforts last week by earning NBA Player of the Week honors for the Eastern Conference, while Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns received the honor in the West.
With the nod, Mitchell joins Kyrie Irving for second in Cavs history with four such awards, per Real GM. He would only need to get 38 more of them to catch LeBron James for the top spot in franchise history.
Is the Cavs’ hot start legit?
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
Nothing about what Donovan Mitchell is doing so far for the Cavs this year should be surprising. It’s already well established that Mitchell is one of the most talented scorers in the NBA, and he proved it by single-handedly lifting the Cavs to a playoff victory against the Orlando Magic a year ago and also allowing them to be more competitive in their subsequent series against Boston Celtics than they probably should be.
What has been surprising, however, is the rapidly improving play of both Evan Mobley and Darius Garland. It looks like Garland is finally tapping into the All-Star potential the Cavs saw in him when they selected him in the lottery. Last year, a broken jaw caused Garland to miss an extended period of time, during which he lost weight and was unable to be the best version of himself after returning to the court. Now he looks stronger and faster than ever, including scoring two clutch buckets down the stretch against the Bucks on Monday.
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Mobley, meanwhile, continues to improve year after year and is now showing more of the increased offensive aggressiveness he flashed at times in last season’s loss to the Celtics.
Combine those factors with a very solid supporting cast along with an experienced head coach in Kenny Atkinson and the Cavs look like real contenders at this early point in the season.
Next up for the Cavs is a road game against the New Orleans Pelicans where they will try to improve their record to 9-0.