Kenny Atkinson rips Cavs poor defensive effort: ‘Our leaders got to take ownership’

You would not have believed that the Cleveland Cavaliers had just won a basketball game based on head coach Kenny Atkinson’s first comments in the press room after their 136-131 win over the Orlando Magic. In fact, you likely would have thought the Cavs were blown out.

“I just told the team, if we’re going to play defense like this, we’re going to have a short playoff stint,” Atkinson said in response to a question about Donovan Mitchell and James Harden lighting it up on offense. “Right now we have a mentality that we are just going to outscore people, and we all know come playoff time it’s not going to be that easy.”

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Atkinson is referring to the Cavs allowing a mediocre Magic team to put up 131 points on the road – and on the second half of a back-to-back no less. The Cavs appeared to have put the clamps down some in the third quarter, but the Magic were never kept down long enough to stop the bleeding.

When asked what the biggest issue with the defense was, Atkinson again did not mince words. “The compete level, and then along with the compete level there’s an IQ level,” he said. “So if your compete level is not there defensively, you’re missing close outs, not understanding personnel, and that is the IQ part.”

Atkinson went on to outline that he’s most frustrated because he knows they’re capable of being better. “Our leaders got to take ownership, it really starts there. We have to switch our mentality right now.”

The Cavs are also working to determine who will make the playoff rotation and who won’t, and there may be an emphasis on favoring players who will compete on the defensive end. “We’re going to find the guys that’ll defend,” Atkinson said. “When the playoffs come, we lean on that, who can guard their position, who is going to be a high-level defensive player. That’s what gets you into the rotation.”

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The Cavs are missing starting center Jarrett Allen, but that isn’t good enough of an excuse for Atkinson, and the same goes for our of the best defensive players in the league in Evan Mobley.

“He (Allen) is a big piece of…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/kenny-atkinson-rips-cavs-poor-040750230.html

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Publish date : 2026-03-25 04:07:00

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