Cleveland Cavaliers rolling under new coach J.B. Bickerstaff

The Cleveland Cavaliers have won three of their last four games under new head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and are showing signs of a culture change.

An ugly season is beginning to turn around for the Cleveland Cavaliers who have won back-to-back games in inspiring fashion. It seems J.B. Bickerstaff is getting the best out of his young core.

The Cavaliers hit rock bottom just a few weeks ago when they lost to the LA Clippers 133-92. This 41-point blow out marked the worst home loss in franchise history and came shortly before head coach John Beilein resigned.

Beilein’s decision to step down appeared to be for the best as the team has now won three of their last four including big victories over Eastern Conference powerhouses such as the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers.

The biggest difference between Beilein and Bickerstaff is their NBA level experience. Beilein was a fantastic collegiate coach but allegedly failed to translate his game (paywall) to the pros.

There is already a clear change in style with Bickerstaff running the show. Bickerstaff chooses to ride the hot hand in each game, giving minutes to the players that are performing at the highest levels that night.

This has already paid dividends for the Cavaliers. Against Miami, Kevin Porter Jr. was unleashed for a career-high 30 points after scoring just 2 points in 14 minutes the night before.

On a smaller note, Matthew Dellevadova put up 10 first-half points versus Philly. His strong start helped him play more minutes in this game (25) than he did in his last four outings combined.

The Cavaliers are playing with more energy than they did before and Bickerstaff has to be the reason for this drastic change. Their 19-point fourth quarter comeback against the Heat is a prime example of this as they put their resilience on full display to win in overtime.

Bickerstaff is doing his best to promote more ball movement from his two young guards. Improvement can already be seen as Darius Garland (+16) and Collin Sexton (+7) have both seen notable increases in their pass numbers across the last three games.

This hasn’t stopped the young duo from scoring, combining for 40 points on 14-for-28 shooting on Wednesday to propel the Cavaliers over the 76ers.

The next thing that Bickerstaff hopes to accomplish is to hand the keys over to Porter and place him in the starting lineup. However, the main priority is to gradually give Porter more responsibility to avoid making him uncomfortable in his role.

If you ask Porter himself, he would likely tell you he is ready for it all. After his career-high night versus Miami, KPJ told reporters that he and Garland want to build an empire in Cleveland. 

These are big words from the 19-year old but exactly the type of confidence the Cleveland Cavaliers need from their young core. Porter has shown more promise than any other member of the roster and looks poised to carry the torch soon.

As for now, the Cavaliers will continue to pull themselves together down the stretch of the season. This recent run has been intriguing and should have all of Cleveland feeling more optimistic about the future.