Atkinson: Cavaliers' strong season is 'ultimate surprise'

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson acknowledges he's surprised by how well his first season with the team has played out so far.

Atkinson told reporters Monday that after going winless in the preseason, he never could've predicted the Cavs would own the best record in the NBA at the midpoint of the season.

"After the preseason we had, I was wondering, like, 'Oh, my gosh, are we (in trouble?),'" Atkinson said, via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. "Seriously, that's how we think as coaches. 'Remember how bad we were in preseason?'"

Atkinson recalled how concerned he was before the final exhibition game in October against the Bulls.

"I think even the Chicago game, we tried to play our guys - our main guys - just to try to get a win to get us some confidence," he said. "So if you would've told me after that game we were gonna (have the best record), I thought it was going to be a fight, a struggle.

"Obviously we wanted to improve, but there were no signs, right? I knew we had a good training camp, and I knew we were working, but there was no confidence that this thing was gonna go this way ... ultimate surprise, really."

It didn't take the Cavs long to turn things around, starting the regular season with a 15-0 streak. They currently sit atop the Eastern Conference standings at 36-6 with a 6.5-game lead over the second-place Boston Celtics.