Nobody could have seen this coming—except, perhaps, the Cleveland Cavaliers themselves.

With a dominant 144-126 win over the Chicago Bulls, the Cavaliers have now improved their league-best record to 14-0, marking the best start in Cleveland’s NBA history. This run also ties them for the third-best start all-time, alongside the ‘57-’58 Boston Celtics and the ‘02-’03 Dallas Mavericks.

Neither of those teams won the championship in those seasons, but these Cavs are showing that they just might have what it takes to go the distance.

Cleveland is firing on all cylinders under new head coach Kenny Atkinson and currently lead the league in offensive rating through the first month of the season. They flashed their impressive scoring potential in their win over Chicago, going on a 21-7 run across the last 2:40 of the contest to turn a four-point match into an 18-point victory. 

Donovan Mitchell has led the charge for the Cavs’ offense and their most recent win was no exception to this. He scored an efficient 37 points on 23 shots, including seven three-pointers. The 28-year-old guard also had seven rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block. If Mitchell continues playing at this level and Cleveland keeps on winning, he could very well make a run at this season’s NBA Most Valuable Player award. 

Mitchell’s backcourt partner, Darius Garland, put on a strong performance as well with 29 points, four three-pointers, three rebounds, nine assists, and a steal. These two are making a legitimate case for the unofficial title of “Best Backcourt in the NBA”, with the Dallas Mavericks’ duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving their only real competition at the moment. 

The Cavs’ twin towers, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, have had solid campaigns too. Mobley is in the midst of the best offensive season of his four-year career so far, averaging 17.8 points on 55.8% field goal shooting. He is also putting up 8.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, a steal, and 1.5 blocks per game, highlighting his ever-growing all-around skillset. 

Mobley sat out Cleveland’s win versus the Bulls due to an illness, but Allen picked up the slack with 24 points on 11-of-15 field goals, 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two blocks. 

Atkinson has found a way to make the duo of Allen and Mobley thrive and if they can keep this up, the Cavs will be a force to be reckoned with over the season. 

Cleveland is still 10 wins away from the ‘15-’16 Golden State Warriors’ record for the best start in NBA history and there is still a long way to go in this regular season, but with the way that they have played so far, this campaign could win up being one for the history books for this franchise. 

Outside of the reigning champion Celtics, the Eastern Conference race appears wide open, giving the Cavs a golden opportunity to make the NBA Finals for the first time without LeBron James.

Once in a while, a surprise team comes out of nowhere and leaves a mark with a season to remember. Cleveland has the potential to be that team this year, and the league will be watching closely to see if this Cavaliers squad is truly a special one.