So far, so good for the Cavaliers in the Kenny Atkinson coaching era. The Cavs played their home opener Oct. 25 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and after a nip-and-tuck first quarter, pulled away from the Detroit Pistons, 113-101, to improve to 2-0. Atkinson — hired in late June to replace fired J.B. Bickerstaff — made a successful debut with the Cavaliers Oct. 23 when the Cavs overwhelmed the Raptors, 136-106, in Toronto. The Pistons, coached by Bickerstaff, led by one, 29-28, after the first quarter. The Cavaliers drained 14 of 23 shots from the field in the second quarter to take a 65-55 lead into the locker room at halftime and never looked back. Dean Wade, 5 of 7 on 3s Friday night, said when he is hot from behind the arc the basket looks like a swimming pool. #Cavaliers 113, #Pistons 101. pic.twitter.com/FSIrOtY8EM — Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) October 26, 2024 All five Cavaliers starters — Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, Dean Wade, Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland finished in double figures. Wade and Mitchell each scored 19 points. Wade was 5 of 7 on 3-point attempts. “With the amount of weapons we have, it’s pretty easy for me,” Wade said after the game. “With D.G., Don, J.A., Evan, Caris LeVert, all those guys create so much space. The defense has to over-help and in it makes my job easy. “Tonight, they (the Pistons) were over-helping a  little bit. I was trying to find my windows and making it easy for the guards to see me.” Ty Jerome added 13 points as the fifth of seven players off the Cavaliers bench. Cade Cunningham led the Pistons (0-2) with 33 points on 14 of 24 shooting. Here is Coach Kenny Atkinson's immediate reaction to the #Cavaliers beating the #Pistons, 113-101, Friday night. pic.twitter.com/hvjZR9IVJa — Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) October 26, 2024 Atkinson is emphasizing spacing and ball movement to make the Cavaliers better offensively, and it showed when they posted 19 assists on 24 first-half baskets. Mitchell led with five assists over the first 24 minutes. The Cavaliers finished with 28 assists. Garland had a team-most six helpers. The Pistons did not go quietly. A turn-around fade away by Caris LeVert nine feet from the basket with 4:59 left in the third quarter gave the Cavs an 81-70 lead. The Pistons trimmed the deficit to 83-79 with 2:21 left in the quarter. Atkinson a timeout. The Cavs closed out the third with eight unanswered points to re-establish control. Bickerstaff met with the media before the game and said he did not feel strange walking into the visitor’s locker room at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse after five years of working in the coach’s office attached to the Cavaliers locker room. He did not sound bitter. “It’s part of what we do,” Bickerstaff said. “Obviously coming in on the bus instead of driving in and small things like that might be different, but it’s a basketball game at the end of the day, and we’re trying to get a win.” Fans inside the FieldHouse applauded when a tribute video of Bickerstaff was shown on the Humungotron during a timeout in the first half. Bickerstaff smiled briefly but did not wave to the crowd in the sold-out arena. The Cavaliers are back in action Oct. 26 when they play the Washington Wizards at 7 p.m. in Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C.