Cavs’ Kenny Atkinson, Donovan Mitchell find common denominator to blame for turnovers

Splitting their last two games over the weekend, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ offense once again had clunky moments that it had recently gotten away from. They committed 17 turnovers in each contest, resulting in 35 points off those miscues. Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson and Donovan Mitchell are trying to determine what’s causing them, and they have an idea of what it may be.

“I’ve got to look at the spacing,” Atkinson said after his team’s 114-110 loss to the Detroit Pistons. “It’s easy to say, well, guys are turning it over. It usually comes down to the spacing is not perfect, probably imperfect. That’s two games in a row where we’ve turned the ball over, so definitely some spacing issues out there.”

“I think also decision-making,” Mitchell added. “It’s trying to do the right thing. Sometimes that’s when the spacing comes into play. But also sometimes it’s just dumb, dumb things.”

Most of those giveaways have been self-inflicted, such as trying to fit passes into small crevices or miscommunications on cuts. A handful have been lazy, lack-of-focus possessions. Maybe the most pressing issue is that those errors tend to compound.

“Sometimes the sign of a really good team is being able to recognize — we can all recognize when a team is on the run — but find a way to limit that,” Sam Merrill said. “[Sunday], we weren’t able to do that.”

The Cavs started Sunday’s game clean, only coughing the ball up once in a dominant first quarter. Cleveland got sloppy with it in the second period, and the floodgates opened, accounting for five turnovers that led to seven more in the third.

“I think it starts with lineups, and the second thing is spacing,” Atkinson said, doubling down. “Spacing’s gotta be better. And their physicality hurt us, right? They get their hands on. They’re handsy. I felt like we had a tough time getting an advantage tonight. And credit to them, they guard the heck out of the ball. They’re physical as heck in pick and roll. I feel like we weren’t getting that thrust. They stood us up a lot.

“We’re not getting those paint touches. Makes it hard on your offense. They’re not sucking in. We’re not getting the kick-outs. Give their defense credit. I think they’re No. 1 in the league in defense right now or close to it. And we couldn’t really get anything going.”

Part of Cleveland’s spacing issues can be remedied with a movement shooter like Merrill on the floor. He’s a big reason why the team had found its mojo prior to this weekend offensively. However, due to a sprained ankle, Merrill is on a minutes restriction.

“Definitely would have played him more, but wanted to respect that, keep him healthy over the long haul,” Atkinson said. “But we can’t play him 48 [minutes], right? Like, I wish I could, but we can’t. He’s got some things going on, and we try to respect it, give him the appropriate minutes [Sunday].

Cavs two-way forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin has done a good job defensively and provided energy, and everybody has raved over Jaylon Tyson’s ability to guard and shoot the ball this season. Both did an admirable job on Pistons star Cade Cunningham on Sunday, holding him to 7 of 22 from the field and making him earn 11 free throws (which he did).

“It’s nice to have size. We’ve got size on those guys,” Atkinson said. “Those guys compete their tails off. Nae’Qwan has some nice blocks, and his length and size really, really helps us. And then, we gotta find a way to help those guys with our spacing, because it was definitely clunky offensively with that group out there.”

Dean Wade, another floor stretcher, has also been out for the last two games with a left knee contusion; he collided with Phoenix Suns guard Jordan Goodwin on a pick-and-roll possession on Wednesday. It’s been difficult for the Cavs to find a flow in the half-court when neither he nor Merrill is on the court, so there’s a clear area for Atkinson and his coaching staff to address.

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