NEW YORK — By the time the Cavs left Madison Square Garden late Wednesday afternoon, following a practice session that coach Kenny Atkinson characterized more like a “shootaround,” they had already turned the page on the Game 1 collapse.
But before that, at the team hotel in downtown Manhattan, they had to relive it all — the good and bad — with a film session that included plenty of video clips from a disastrous fourth quarter in which Cleveland was on the wrong end of a historic 22-point turnaround in the final 7:52.
The Cavs lost the series opener, 115-104. Game 2 is Thursday night in New York at 8 p.m.
“We had three quarters of really good basketball,” Atkinson reiterated following Wednesday’s practice. “Some of the best basketball we have played in the playoffs, offensively and defensively. Then in the fourth quarter, looking back on it, what I’m probably more disappointed about was our offense.”
Atkinson mentioned shot quality, including nine 3-point attempts. He felt like players could’ve gotten to the rim more frequently and looked for the extra pass. He spoke about stagnation and screening.
“They’re a really good defensive team, but a lot of it was self-inflicted,” Atkinson explained.
Well, what about the defensive end — a contentious postgame talking point that led to Atkinson being the target of unfiltered criticism?
“They were in the first percentile in shot quality,” Atkinson said with a grin. “We have data that you guys don’t have. Our process was right. They made some tough, tough shots. I thought our offense made our defense look bad.”
Asked whether the team’s shot-quality metrics account for the person taking those attempts — specifically, Jalen Brunson who Dennis Schroder called one of the league’s best point guards — Atkinson said they did take that into account and sometimes a defense must live with certain shots, no matter who is taking them.
Then again, Knicks coach Mike Brown said openly after New York’s miraculous comeback that he instructed his team to target Cavs veteran James Harden on switches. Brunson finished with a game-high 38 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter.
Should Atkinson have changed coverages?
“We did,” Atkinson said. “But you could take the other part. We did and Landry Shamet gets a corner 3. You’re playing that game as a coach. There was argument in our coaches meeting. Maybe we should have stuck with — is he going to beat us with tough 2s? We live with that. Then there’s the other side. Like, ‘No, we have to get the ball out of his hands.’ We kind of picked a middle ground of that. We didn’t stick with the analytical thing where you’d say live with it, live with it, live with it. We started double-teaming and we got hurt with the double-team.
“If you’re on either side of the fence, you’re right. The coach, especially when you lose, you’re wrong, no matter what side you take.”
Even though Harden was the primary target of Brunson’s relentless assault, and clips of Harden getting torched quickly went viral Tuesday night, Atkinson didn’t want to put it all on his star.
“That’s the NBA,” Atkinson said. “One thing about James, I’ll just defend him. He’s a good isolation defender. Always has been. He’s super smart. He’s got great hands. I was kind of a little more upset with our backline defense. He had a couple, two or three really tough shots on him, but then I think the baseline drive where our low guy didn’t come over and get a contest. This is team defense. At this level, it’s team defense. Are we helping, sending them in the right direction? I know everybody’s putting it on James, but I’d say a lot of it is on the team, our team defense. Some of it was him. There was a couple blow bys. But I’d argue it was on the team defense, too.”
That same message from Atkinson’s post-practice availability was relayed to Harden as well.
“I said, ‘Without you, we’re knocked out in the first round.’ That’s first, my personal opinion,” Atkinson said. “So, let’s just stop that. Like, ‘We’re in a great position, you’ve played great and sometimes micro experiences get exaggerated, so keep being yourself.’”
