Why Cavs’ Kenny Atkinson just put himself in firing line with Game 1 disasterclass vs. Knicks

The Cleveland Cavs fell behind 0-1 in their Eastern Conference Finals series against the New York Knicks on Tuesday evening in Madison Square Garden. Despite leading by 22 points in the fourth quarter, the Cavs completed one of the biggest choke jobs in NBA playoff history, ultimately falling in overtime by a score of 115-104.

In the aftermath of the loss, much of the blame was directed at Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson, who waited for far too long to call a timeout when the Knicks were making their run in the fourth quarter. Atkinson also received criticism for keeping James Harden in the game despite the fact that Jalen Brunson of the Knicks was consistently torching him in the fourth quarter on switches, which helped spur the New York run. Harden wasn’t providing nearly enough on offense at that point of the game in order to justify leaving him in.

While the Cavs ultimately did end up switching their strategy and double-teaming Brunson, the Knicks did a solid job of executing and finding open shooters, with Mikal Bridges burying two triples, and Landry Shamet another, in the final couple of minutes of regulation in order to send the game into overtime, where New York took control from the very beginning.

This is the kind of loss that can completely erase any momentum the Cavs may have had going into the series, and also one that should put Atkinson firmly on the hot seat if the rest of the series plays out the way many expect it will. Atkinson was already rumored to have his job potentially in jeopardy at one point in this season amid Cleveland’s lackluster start to the year, and although Cleveland’s second round win against the Detroit Pistons certainly earned him some points, those good vibes will quickly dissipate if they are uncompetitive against New York.

Many Cleveland fans were quick to compare this meltdown to Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals, in which JR Smith dribbled away a chance for the heavy underdog Cavs to steal control of the series right away. That series ended up in a 4-0 sweep for the Golden State Warriors, and it’s not hard to envision things going the same way this time around, especially if the Cavs get caught up mentally in just how brutal their choke was in Game 1.

Game 2 is set for Thursday evening back in New York City.

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