Cleveland! Your Cavs are 4-0 for the first time since 2016!

On November 1st, 2016, Kyrie Irving led the Cavaliers with 32 points to give Cleveland their fourth consecutive win in a 128-120 win over the James Harden-led Houston Rockets. Three teams later for both of those aging superstars, the Cavaliers now have a new group of stars making similar headlines in Cleveland.

In 2016, Kyrie Irving’s eventual replacement, Darius Garland, was still in high school. But nowadays, Garland is well on his way to winning back the Cavalier faithful after his 34-point performance in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks. He also added 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals while shooting 12-of-19 from the field.

“We showed a lot of people a little bit of something,” Darius told Serena Winters from FanDuel Sports Network after their win in New York. “Anybody can have a game at any time.”

While Garland took the spotlight on Monday, Cleveland has found success in each game from different players, thanks to a facelift offensively from new head coach Kenny Atkinson. On opening night, it was Evan Mobley who led the way with 25 points. Game 2 saw Dean Wade step up in place of the injured Max Strus to knock down five three-pointers on his way to a team-high 19 points. And on Saturday, it was Donovan Mitchell who found his footing for the first 30 point performance of the year for the Cavs.

“We’re really sharing the ball and moving,” Atkinson shared after their second win of the season against the Detroit Pistons, a game where Cleveland saw six players score in double-figures. “I think those are the hardest teams to beat.”

The Cavaliers had the 13th-lowest offensive rating a year ago. Coach Atkinson, through four games, now has Cleveland 2nd, only behind the Boston Celtics. Looking at that same area, but rather for individual players, you will see a surprising name atop the NBA. Jarrett Allen is averaging 17 points, 9.5 rebounds, and just under 2 blocks per game, but his most impressive stat is his offensive rating of 159.2. And that is saying something because Allen is also shooting a scorching 80.3% from the field.

His start has not gone unnoticed, either, because Allen sits 5th on Basketball Reference’s NBA MVP Award Tracker, which according to their page, “ranks candidates based on a model built using previous voting results”. While Jarrett Allen will not by any means remain an MVP candidate throughout the entire season, this just goes to show how impressive his start has been despite his scoring numbers remaining below his teammates.

Defensively, this has always been a top-tier team in the NBA. This year is no different. Cleveland remains in the top five with a defensive rating of 106.5. They are holding their opponents to just 106.8 points per game, which ranks fourth in the association.

Cleveland’s schedule will level up in difficulty yet again Wednesday as they take on the 3-1 Los Angeles Lakers at home. And as the Cavaliers prepare to face the Lakers, they’re not just welcoming back a Cleveland icon—they’re seizing a chance to prove that their new, shared-spotlight style can compete at the highest level.