The Cleveland Cavaliers set things right with three stress-free wins against bad teams to start their season. You couldn't ask for a better start to the Kenny Atkinson era.

Let's get into what we learned this week.

The halftime offensive looked good

The Cavs have scored 135 or more points in two of their three games this week. They only managed to do that three times in the regular season last season. It's fair to point out that they were playing against bad defenses during this stretch, but last season they played more bad teams and didn't experience nights like this often.

Getting the pace and space right was a focus for Atkinson throughout training camp. The Cavs offense benefits from this, but not in the way you might think. They currently rank 12th in pace and 20th in three-point attempts. However, the better pace and spacing led to a more fluid half-court attack.

Cleveland has the third-best half-court offense so far with an offensive rating of 112.7. For comparison, their best half-court offensive rating of the season under JB Bickerstaff was 99.8 in 2022/23. Although they don't take many threes, they provide a very clear look for their best players. The Cavs are knocking down 55.2% of their 19.3 wide open threes per game. The better spacing principles contribute to this.

“Our spacing was so good,” Dean Wade said after Friday’s home opener. “It’s very clear when you can shoot and when you can’t.”

Three-point shooting numbers and overall offensive efficiency will decline. However, the process that led to the hot start should result in the offense being significantly better than what we saw last year.

The starters were well together because of their defense

Passing accuracy between starters was an issue last season. Starting Wade with the core four has yielded good results so far. However, this is mainly due to their defensive fit.

Through three games, the starters have a defensive rating of 103 (100th percentile). That's because there are three versatile defensive greats in Wade, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.

“You can just switch between three and five,” Atkinson said of the starting lineup after the win against the Detroit Pistons. “It just makes life easier for us defensively.”

With three defensive players in the starting unit, the guards can aggressively jump the passing lanes. Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell have done this well and are partly responsible for the starters forcing turnovers on 16.7% of defensive possessions (80th percentile).

The offensive side of the ball wasn’t as clean. The starting unit has posted an offensive rating of 113.8 (48th percentile) through three games. They struggled to get to the rim and play well in the half court.

However, this is a defensive first team. It's important to have a starting lineup that can establish this type of defensive identity. We'll see if the offense comes through with the starters.

Jarrett Allen is the biggest beneficiary of Kenny Atkinson's offense

Much of the focus this offseason has been on how players like Mobley and Garland would benefit from Atkinson's offense. Although they both succeeded, they did not benefit from it to the same extent as Allen.

Allen is averaging 18 points in 27.5 minutes on 83.3% shooting in three games. This includes completing 87.5% of his looks at the rim. This is possible for everyone due to the greater distance.

“We’re five ahead,” Jarrett Allen said after Friday’s win. “It confuses the defense because they’re used to the big guy sitting in the dunker (spot). It gives me the opportunity to edit.”

This is most evident when Allen doesn't share the floor with Mobley. In these situations, Allen has been used more at the top end of the arc, both as a passer and as someone who can beat his man off the dribble, as he did in the example below.

Mobley is only taking 2.3 three-pointers per game, a number you'd like to see closer to four. But even if the volume is low, Mobley's mere standing at the three-point line has given Allen more freedom to maneuver.

Atkinson has split Allen and Mobley's time together pretty evenly so far. However, for this team to reach its potential, the pairing must work well together. So far it has been like this. That's perhaps the most encouraging aspect of this hot start.