The Cavs walked away from their first back-to-back of the 2026-27 season and walked away from it 1-1. It was a 121-111 victory over the Washington Wizards and a tough loss 114-111 to the Atlanta Hawks in Atlanta.

This initial back-to-back ended up showing quite a bit about who the Cavs could potentially be moving forward.

They thrive when the bigs are the focal point

It has been the same for the past few seasons since Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen became teammates and it reigns true today.

Mobley had 24 and 12 against the Wizards and him and Allen provided that nice big to big connection that Cavs fans have grown very accustom to seeing. Allen struggled against the Wizards but turned it around nicely against the Hawks despite the loss.

The more they have the ball in their hands, the more the Cavs have an efficient offense.

They still struggle to play all four quarters

Yet again the Cavs continue to show that playing all four quarters is something they cannot do.

No matter what it seems that Kenny Atkinson has a great scheme to open the game and it all falls apart by the end of the first half. It was a well played second half against the Wizards that allowed for a crucial win at home and a very poor second quarter against Atlanta that left the Cavs just short.

Adjustments when their opponents go on a big run has been a focal point of a lot of the criticism that has come their way and this first back-to-back exposed that once again.

The bench will continue to be the most crucial piece

The bench play throughout these two games has been key to the success and lack thereof for the Cavs.

If the bench is firing on all cylinders then it feels like this team is unstoppable. Sam Merrill and Jaylon Tyson being those first two guys off the bench have been good energy boosts when it has felt like the starters have stalled out.

The rookie Meleek Thomas, who missed the Atlanta game, has also turned heads with his early season performance. If that continues as well it really helps out the guard play.

The transition defense still needs work

No matter what happens the Cavs continue to struggle to play good transition defense. A lot of it being because of James Harden or Donovan Mitchell being the lone guys at the top and the only guys who could get back.

The Wizards had 12 fast break points while the Hawks had 15. A lot of this has been caused by turnover issues as well or poor shots late in the shot clock.

Almost every team has learned that getting out in transition is the best way to beat the Cavs. It helped the Hawks tremendously and even though the Wizards loss they still had a ton of success in that category.

It is still so early in the season for the Cavs, but this first back-to-back provided so much for them to learn from and improve on going forward.